Intervention
by BlueBird722
Summary: For months the archer was hiding drugs from his team, but after he's caught, he is sentenced to rehab. When a tragedy occurs, can he trust an empath with his darkest secrets-and not to abandon him? T for violence, sex, and drug use.
1. Chapter 1

I published the original version way back in late 2010, but I feel I have improve on my writing skills, so I am planning to improve this story. Summary: He has dealt with drugs as long as he can remember. There was no escape or freedom. It was his obsession. How could a quiet half-breed pull him out of it?

* * *

"You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." -Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

* * *

FADE IN:

STEEL CITY NIGHT CLUB-NIGHT

The boy mumbled as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. The person in the mirror was someone he did not recognize. His eyes were bloodshot, his face was sagging, and his mouth was bleeding. Music from the dance floor vibrated through the bathroom door and bounced against his skull like a dunbell.

He knew he was taking a risk doing this in a public place when some stranger would walk in, catch him, and run off to make his team and the whole generation of their kind a generation of shame.

Uh, I look sick, he thought to himself. But maybe one more…

"Spee-I mean Roy?"

He looked up and saw his fish-boy teammate looking at him through the opened door. "Are you all right? You look…exhausted."

"Nah," he said, the music stomping on his brain. "I'm all right. Tell Karen and the twins I will join you guys as soon as possible. Garth."

Garth shrugged in disbelief. "All right," he said and with that he walked away, leaving him in complete silence.

Sighing to himself, he took out a needle and poked his own red, bloody wrist, and pushed down.

* * *

So what do you guys think? Drug addict or something to hide from his past? Please review, tell me what you think, and notify me of any grammar or spelling errors. Also, tell me what story you'd like to be reviewed, and I'll review it for you. Oh, and if at any point in the story you feel like this should be changed to M-rated, let me know. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, chapter 2 is up! I had this is mind for a long time, so I know what I'm doing. **

**Oh, and this scene is sort of shocking, so…brace yourself for some violence. **

**On with the story!**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The carrot-haired archer known to the world as Speedy moaned under the covers at his alarm clock. _Aw man, why do I have to wake up this early all the time? _he moaned mentally. He slammed the alarm off and groggily crawled out of bed. Hs legs were Jell-o and his feet were chopped off. Sighing he stood up and walked to the bathroom.

He washed his face roughly and stared at himself. _Ugh, geez, I look like a train wreck,_ he thought. His hair stood up on his head as if electrocuted, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was puffy. _That does sure hit me hard_, he thought.

Closing his eyes, he slid his mask on and walked to the Common Room. The twins were rummaging the refrigerator, muttering Spanish gibberish. Bee was sitting at the table, reading the paper. Speed groaned and stumbled toward the table.

"What happened to you? You look awful," she said.

"Didn't sleep well last night," he said. "Where's Aqua?"

"He went for a morning swim with the dolphins. He'll be back by nine. Want some breakfast?"

"_Si_," the twins called out.

Bee chuckled. "Nah," he said. "Can I have an aspirin, though? My head is ripping apart like an earthquake."

Bee nodded and stood up. As she searched the cabinets for the bottle of pills, Speed set his head down and sighed, his wrist flaming in fire.

As she turned the water on, he considered whether or not to tell the team. _No, I can't. They'll kick me off!_

"Here you go," she said handing him two tablets and a glass of water. He nodded, popped the pills into his mouth, and gulped down half the water before his wrist bones broke apart and the glass fell from his hand.

"Senor Speed," the twins cried.

"I'm fine, boys," he mumbled. "Just exhausted."

Just then the alarm rang. He growled in anger and slammed his head into his arms. "Well, I'm sorry to say this, but you'll have to sleep later, we have someone on the loose!"

"Wonderful, who?" he mumbled, even his brain unhappy.

"Some guy just robbed a bank!" Aqua said jumping out of the water. Ink hair ran down his head to his shoulders. "Some little girl saw me swimming and cried it out."

"Come on, boys!"

* * *

The man huffed and puffed as he ran tiredly down the road. _Gee, I need to cut back on the Camels_, he thought to himself. But at least I made the perfect robbery!

A flash of white and red suddenly knocked him down and he accidentally dropped the money bag.

"Stop right there!"

Or not…

He squinted and smirked at the five people staring at him angrily. "Well, who would've thought Queen Bee and her dysfunctional boys would be the lucky ones to get _fried_!"

He whipped out a humongous cannon and ZAM! In a flash of red, the twins sped off and the older three leapt away leaving behind a cloud of smoke and a large hole in a wall.

"Nice try, crook," Speed sneered. "It seems like you weren't fast enough."

He fired it again and trailed it at the twins, who zoomed off in a flash screaming. With a large blow, they fell down, swirls in their eyes and their mouths drooling.

"Looks like you're wrong," he spat back before Aqua lifted his hands and shot the gun away in a fast wave of water.

"What's your weapon now?" Speed sneered, whipping out several arrows that he dodged. Bee shrank and flew around him, but moved so fast she regrew and positioned herself beside the boys.

"This," he said running up and lifting a foot-

SLAM!

The three of them fell to the ground unconscious, arms spread apart.

* * *

Bee adjusted the ice pack on her head and winced. Her head was exploding and her ankles cried out in pain. She looked over her shoulder in the ambulance and saw the twins wiping blood stains off the other's face.

The police had taken him away, sure, but Bee hated herself for this stupid mistake. She was a hero! He could've kidnapped somebody or done something wrong and people would think she was slacking off. No way would that ever happen again!

The doctor shifted the tubes in her arms. "Are you all right, Miss?"

"Yes," she said faintly. "How are the boys?"

"Both of them are in a concussion. We'll send a nurse over to your tower to tend them and help these little munchkins."

"Thank you," she smiling at his nickname for the twins. "Can you take us home now?"

He smiled softly and lifted her onto one of the beds.

* * *

Archer boy groaned at his exploding head. It thumped and echoed like a bell. His head was in a fog and his blood was flowing slowly. He tried flexing his legs and felt nothing. "Ugh," he moaned, "what happened?"

"You were fighting that guy and he hit you and your teammate in the head," a soft female voice said. "You have a concussion, so we had to come over and tend you two."

He fully opened his eyes and saw a friendly nurse with soft auburn hair checking an IV attached to his arm. Looking at the liquid package made him feel sick. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Jesus, how long have I been out?"

"Nearly two hours," she said. "We suggest you walk in two days."

"Two days?" he asked shocked, sitting up. "I can't stay here for two days."

"Why not?" she asked looking up perplexed.

"I have some business to do, it's real important that I do it," he said.

"Humph. Well, give me the business number and I'll tell your boss you need to stay home."

"No, no, dear, I need to tell him face-to-face," he said. "He's slow and doesn't like messengers."

The nurse pouted. "Do you want me to drive you to the building and you can tell your boss from there?"

"Uh, no." Gee, this woman was difficult. "Can you just drop me off at a block and I'll wheelchair myself there?"

"You can't do that," she said. "What if someone comes up and hurts you?"

"Er, how about you call one of my partners and they can take me? One of them has a medical degree, too."

"Um, I'll have to ask."

"Okay, thanks."

As she stood up to leave, Speed smirked to himself. Ha, she believed him. Now he can go to the little den, hand a few grand over…and refill himself into that dazzling heroin.

**All right, so this did not exactly turn out as violent as I hoped, but the next chapter will definitely be hard and steamy, so if you like violence…hopefully it's your chapter. Please review and I'll update ASAP. Also, I promise I'll review for you. just tell me any story you want me to review, and I'll read and review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, followers. I'm back with chapter 2, and hopefully if you're a violence-and-drug-loving person, this is your chapter. So we know he and the others suffered a concussion from fighting the robber and he tricked the nurse into thinking his business partner was a doctor who could take him to his boss.**

* * *

Speed leaned his head back as his coworker rolled him down the deep block in the dark part of the city, which, he still cringed to admit, was graphic. There was spray-paint marks every inch of the block, saying nasty insults, expressing disturbing visual images, and huge interjections with little comments added below. There was a huge bloodstain on the block where a drunken man publically raped a six-year-old girl a few years ago that nobody bothered to hide. Undergarments, clothes, and cigarette butts littered every porch, every gutter, and every garbage can. Beer bottles sat outside window sills, and several silhouettes depicted a drunken whore giving a customer a tempting (and boring) lap dance.

"Are you sure you want to continue this business, Roy?" his partner asked him. "I mean, you're a superhero and all, but-"

"No," he interrupted. "I must find the perfect way to break into my own world without crime, Bumble-fucking-bee, and trying to be a good boy 27-fucking-seven. This is my world. And I must have the shots."

His coworker shrugged and stopped at the house labeled 25. Bottles glimmered on the roofs, some still dripping with beer, the scent of burning flesh was strong, and loud crashing music made his headache worse.

Roy was happy he didn't know the real reason he was addicted...

He stumbled up the steps to the door and knocked. The door opened and the music slammed against his eardrums. The living room was full of heroin, cigars, smoke, beer, cards, shrieking women, and half-naked couples on the floor sharing cigarettes. It made him feel ill, but he swallowed.

"Roy, how nice to see you. Heard about that fight today."

Speed moaned. "Yeah, pretty tough. Bee got hit badly and the twins have a concussion. Listen, you have any needles?"

The man stared at him, stunned. "Now? You nearly died today, and they said you have a concuss-"

"Bullshit," Speed interrupted. "Just cook me some."

The man shrugged and pulled out a needle. "Knock yourself out."

Speed smirked and took the needle from the large set of fingers. This was him, this was his, this was his life. The only thing he felt good after using, the one thing that made him feel alive outside Green Arrow's wing.

He smirked and rolled up his sleeve.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?" Bee roared as he slumped down on the couch, guiltily busted for sneaking in late at night. "You have a concussion and you go to town without telling me? What if someone abducted you, for God's sake?"

Speed moaned as her words echoed in his head. Thanks to Cy's goddamn modern security, they took him as an intruder and nearly knocked him out of the window. It was only as he screamed 'fish tacos' that Garth realized who he was and pulled him back up with a wave of water without even getting his hair wet, though his uniform was soaked. For some reason, he wanted to blame it on the annoying twins. Shut up, shut up, shut up, he screamed mentally.

"And what if we needed your help? Huh? We would be wasting time searching the house for you thinking you were playing a trick on us while somebody was being attacked?"

The drug began hitting him. His body was feeling hot, but not from the house or his uniform that Aqua dried. His blood was boiling, his hands were shaking, and his chest was hollow. _Control yourself, man! Don't let her get you! Shut up, shut up, shut up…_

He wasn't able to control himself as he leapt from the couch and jumped right on top of her, screeching.

"Speed!" Aqua yelled. He jumped right on top of him and tried wrestling his frenemy off the leader, only to draw back and scream from his more than average body temperature.

"Ouch! Speed, you're burning up!"

"_Bajar de ella! Bajar de ella_!" ("Get off of her!") the twins yelled speeding up and trying to knock him down, although they collapsed with bruised arms.

He began punching her face and banging her head up and down, kneeing her in the gut.

"Who do you think you are, huh? Just because you're the leader doesn't mean you have to be our mother!" he screamed in her ear.

Aqua lifted his arms and sent a wave of cold salt water over the railing and pushed Speed against the wall.

He slammed against the hard force and fell on his face, body temperature jumping up and down, cold sweat running down his forehead and neck. Aqua knelt down to the fallen leader and helped her to her feet.

"Senor Aqua, Senor Aqua!" the twins yelled still on the floor clutching their swelling arms.

Aqua looked up and saw Speed dodging toward him, his eyes on fire, and his face as red as blood. Quickly the fish-boy screamed and ran away.

He leapt over the railing and into the pool, water rolling the heat but not the worry off his body. Slowly he swam down and sat on the bottom. God, what was happening to Speed?

Splash!

That familiar sound caused him to look up in surprise and see fire still glaring at him. He lifted his arms and Speed flung out of the pool and against the ceiling. Aqua swam up and watched him collapse on the floor, lying motionless.

"Speed! Speed, are you all right?" Bee yelled stumbling despite the twins' support. They looked at their teammate concerned as well.

Slowly he stood up on shaky legs, his hands gripping his scary thin thighs, and even more hesitantly lifted his head up, showing a face that breathed out revenge and hatred.

He whipped out several arrows and aimed them at his horrified teammates, Aqua hiding under water, the twins zapping up and down, and Bee shrinking, heart sprinting on a treadmill. _My God, something is wrong! Was he attacked? Oh no, somebody must have poisoned him!_

"Boys, come up, I need to talk to you!"

Aqua jumped out of H2O and drew waves to distract a dizzying Speed. The speedy brothers zoomed in a flash of Canadian colors and landed knee-down.

"Attack him, all together," she said through breaths of exhaustion.

"Bee, that will kill him-"

"Big deal, we need to find out what's going on NOW!"

They nodded and jumped up. The twins created an eye-rolling tornado and slid toward him. He could see double now-which was real and which the illusion? He whipped out more arrows and attacked.

Before he could hit, they knocked him down, and he looked up in bewilderment.

"Buenos noches, Senor Speed," they said, before a wave of water and stinging 'electricity' zapped him from the back of his head.

* * *

"Cy, dude, what does this mean?"

"It means he's regaining conscious."

"So he's going to be all right?"

"Hopefully, he will be, Bee."

"I think his hand twitched."

Speed's eyes were dry as sand. His head was fuzzy and numb. His mouth was dry and thirsty. His hands were stiff and frozen. He felt hot and cold everywhere. His blood was crying for more. He needed more, he needed more, he needed more…

His weak eyes snapped open. East and West were staring at him, eyes concerned and unhappy.

He saw a dark hand on his shoulder. "We need to talk."

* * *

**Ouch. Not exactly nice having two groups of friends glare at you, eh? Please read and review for opinions, spelling errors, or grammar flaws, and I'll review for you. Otherwise, I feel my story is being neglected.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, sorry I haven't been around for a while. Damn, community service is a PITA!

So anyway, here's chapter 3. Hopefully I'll post a new chapter up soon.

* * *

Speedy swallowed half the glass of water Star poured for him and set it down. They had taken him to the West coast for better treatment, as their medical bay was broken. Now he sat on the medical bed, his face sweltering in heat, while nine friends stood around glaring at him.

"All right, Roy, tell us what's going on," Rob demanded. He held a stack of papers in his hands, which were typed interviews he had with the team. In the margins he had written notes that he wanted to ask Speed about.

Speedy sighed and looked at his feet. "Whatever," he mumbled.

"All right, number one-why the _fuck_ did you attack her?" Rob yelled slamming his files to the ground.

Roy rubbed his wrists and remained silent.

"Speedy, I'm asking you a question! And if I ask you a question you better answer it!" he yelled again. Rae and Aqua gently set him down on the stool, where he growled like a bull.

Nobody bothered to calm him down. Roy curled his toes.

"Well…she was…yelling…too loud and…I guess I…kind of…lost control…"

Bee huffed. "I have done that since I met you and it wasn't until months later that you nearly killed me?"

"Karen, keep it down," Cy warned. "His heart rate's still unstable."

BB peered at Speed's hands, running over his red wrists under black wristbands over his red armbands -the red shine something he never noticed before…

"Maybe his heart's unstable because of this!"

BB grabbed Speed's arms and ripped off the wristbands.

Under his hands was an uneven pattern of red dots on the verge of bleeding and a rash with already flaking skin.

Both teams gasped.

"Rob…what is this?"

Rob looked at the dots and closed his eyes. "A heroin addict, Star…Roy has been addicted to an illegal drug."

BB grinded his teeth together but stopped when Rae's hand gripped his shoulder. Cy slid a minor, small cut against his wrist, drained a tiny spot of blood, and turned to the computer.

Bee's heart forgot how to pump. She stared at his red arm with an open mouth and unblinking eyes. Aqua snapped his fingers under her nose, and she immediately snapped.

"You're-you're a drug addict! A crime committer! And yet you lie to us and act like a law enforcer! How could you do this to us?"

Speed hung his head and tried not to cry. For about an hour, he was too weak to show her it was his life. It was a perfect escape-it gave him freedom from everything horrible in his life-his father's horrifying death, falling to the Arrow's enemies, the Hive capturing and brainwashing him, the Brotherhood taking and freezing him, and everything else. It was too much for him to handle. When you're a hero, too many bad things happen to you. You couldn't fall no matter what. But he had fallen. And all he wanted to do was weep.

Speaking of which, about two hours later (his ears were clogged up as he attempted to hide any watering eyes) he heard muffled sobs and looked up to see Bee weeping on Rob's shoulder, the twins patting her back. "Oh, Rob, I'm a horrible, horrible leader…."

"It's not your fault, Bee," he whispered. As soon as he turned his head, Speed looked down and rubbed his face. The only sounds were Bee crying, Cy typing, and the rest of the East Coast team and Rae leaving. After half an hour, he pulled his hands away and saw a green puppy. BB morphed back and shoved a sheet of paper at his face.

"Cy held an online court case and took a blood test on you while you were KO and had your head down," he said so maturely. "We couldn't risk having a public court case and everyone calling us amateurs. You have 2.7 cups of heroin in your system. We found out you were in this business for a LONG time. Thank your sorry ass you're a respected crime fighter, for the West and I scheduled an appointed ninety days in rehab here at Jump for you. You start tomorrow."

* * *

Later that night, Speed found himself roped to the bed by the wrists and ankles. He was sweating and thirsty, and the tight ropes made it worse.

Rae had flown the East back to their tower to pack clothes for him while in rehab. Cy had found a deserted motel near a barber shop that needed water and electrical repair, but was still useful if rebuilt carefully. They told him one of the West was staying with him, but he sincerely hoped it was not Rob-he would be dead before even enrolling.

Rehab. The one word he feared having to do with. Rehab. The one thing that could take away his treasure, his treasure that hid him from all the horrible events in his life. Rehab-what a rotten name. They say it could cure him, but no-it would bring evil in, and it would remind him about being nothing more than a 'clone' or an 'archer' or a 'sidekick'. Rehab-it was a ticket to torture in hell.

The light flicked on and Speed opened his eyes. Cy was standing in the doorway, holding two sports-bags. "It's time," he said.

Roy leaned his head back and groaned. Cy walked over and began untying the ropes. He lifted his disgraced friend and brief teammate over his shoulder and walked him out. Speed watched the tiled floor move away from him at each loud step.

When they went to the garage, Cy set Speed into the front and buckled his seatbelt for him. Through a straw Roy gulped down half a cup of warm coffee and blinked. They were on their way.

Feeling like a moron, he put his hand on his wrist, which pulled away in a second.

The car parked in front of an isolated motel, weeds floating against the wind. Speed opened the door and grimaced. Two of the windows were broken, the gutters were rusting, and mold was growing around the door.

"Ugh! Vic, you actually expect me to sleep in here?"

"Keep your mouth shut, boy, it's better than a prison cell," he growled ripping his bags out. "Would you rather freeze in jail or end your habit warm?"

Speed didn't answer.

Cy pulled out his device and inserted it into a lock. The door gleamed and made a clicking noise. He twisted it open and turned the light on. Speed walked inside feeling like he was walking into the Bates motel. There was a kitchen to the right, a living room to the left, and a staircase in front of him. He and Cy carried his bags up the steps, where he saw two plain bedrooms. He threw his bags on top of the bed, flopped down, and wrapped his arms around himself.

"Speedy, it starts at seven, and I have to take you to the-" Cy poked his head in and paused. "You all right?"

Roy didn't answer. "Look, buddy," Cy said sitting down beside him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "we're doing this because we want to. Nobody said we had to, but we're doing it because we care about you-"

"Well, explain to me why you and the West are here as well," he interrupted harshly.

Cy sighed. "I had a friend in High School who let this into his life," he said. "And I helped carry his casket at his funeral."

Speed looked up. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes," he said. "And there's no way I am going to let that happen again in my life." Speed looked down. "Come on, one of my teammates is meeting you at the Square."

"Aw, the _gay_ café?"

* * *

The Square is a little café that, when my parents took me to, we saw had mostly gay couples in there (I apologize to the gay, it was the only café I could think of).

Chapter 4 is coming real soon-it's Roy's first day in rehab, but when something happens, will he be able to run away without falling back into drugs or hurting himself again? We'll have to see.

Oh, I almost forgot-I don't think Cy really had a friend addicted to heroin, I ust think it was a neat way to give the guy heart, though he did have friends that his parents knew weren't a good influence.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm back. I know, it's been a long time, but oh well. That's life.

Now, I have a question at the end, so please answer it when you're done reading.

I especially want to thank Draft-Punk-Princess, rachel roth, crazy nerd (luv u!), Japhith (tons of useful advice), stephanie78724, Love is Ephermeral, Rae-rae, cartunegirl56, CBGBgirl88, IReadFromTheLastChapter and teentitangirl25. I love you all.

* * *

Cy had dropped him off at the entrance and watched him enter before driving away. The Square was decorated in colored circles, paintings, and unoccupied outdoor tables. Small children held up T-shirts, people read the newspaper at the bar, and waiters and waitresses dressed ridiculously freaky served meals to perhaps gay couples. _Why this place? I'm not gay!_ he growled mentally. While he stood in the doorway, he peered around through the glass and could make out the purple head.

_Of all the members in that team, he has to pick the one who isolates herself,_ he growled mentally again. Suddenly he saw her stand up and stared at him. Knowing there was no escape, he opened the door.

She was not in her daily outfit but rather jeans, a turtleneck, and faded gray jacket. Her hair was pulled over her head and an ear warmer hid her forehead. She had bright lipstick on (!) and a hesitant look in her eyes.

He walked up to her and stared at her rare eye color. "Hello…" he began.

"Hello," she replied. They continued staring at each other until she knocked her knuckles on the table. "Want to sit?"

"Yes," he said doing the deed. He noticed a covered cup of coffee and pulled the lid off.

"Hope you don't mind," she said handing him creamer. He shook his head and poured it in, stirring slowly.

"Are you…are you staying…for…for the night?" he asked.

She nodded silently. "Rob thought I was more serious than Star, and BB too immature. Cy lied he had too much to do."

"I hope you don't-"

"You're nervous," she said. "I can tell."

He looked down and closed his eyes as she continued. "If Bee had been thoughtful, you would be in jail and make the team look bad. Just be thankful at least friends from the other side of the country care and allowed you to be on their side, Rob would-"

"Rae, I-"

"Speed," she interrupted about to cry. "Please. Just talk. Tell me about yourself."

He looked into her eyes and saw pain, worry, and alert. He put his head down and stared at himself in the coffee. This was supposed to be Green Arrow's sidekick-this wasn't supposed to be a heroin addict.

They walked out of the café in silence, his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist. It was the only thing to do to keep him comforted and he held on to avoid losing that feeling. She looked at the ground with a look of misery.

He paused at the bus stop and looked into her eyes. "This is where they pick me up," he said.

She nodded and shoved her hand into her pocket. He watched as she pulled out two photographs and handed them to him. "Here," she said. "Something to think about while you're in therapy…"

He looked down at the photographs. The twins were standing in front of a haunted house that he remembered talking them to last Halloween. Both held pumpkin candy bags and were wearing blanket pajamas under teddy bear costumes (at Star's insistence). The second one was a picture of a small house on a shore, the sky so blue and the water so smooth he could almost hear it.

"Star and I picked them out," she said. "We remember how much fun you had teasing them after they used your arrows as back-scratchers."

He looked at her again, surprised that she was too, and he embraced her tightly. "I'm so scared," he hissed.

"You'll be fine," she whispered shocked at this touch. Before East formed, she knew only Garth and was still getting used to Bee.

They pulled apart at the green bus and he hopped on, running to the back. He popped his head out the side window and looked at her as he felt the bus moving. Her eyes widen and in an unlike Rae way, she pulled her hood off and ran after the bus on the street until it turned right.

It was then that he imagined her kissing him on the cheek...

* * *

He sat on a gray seat alone, the other druggies doing something else. Some were talking and laughing, some were staring at him, and some were just as miserable as him.

A few more idiots hopped in, and Roy realized something-these were just like him. They all suffered the same problem, and some of them had lives-some were husbands, fathers, boyfriends, coworkers, friends…He felt more stupid than ever.

He pulled out the photographs and studied the twins. Stupid him-how could he let them down? Sure, they had problems, but everybody else did too! How sad that these adorable little children had to live with an idiot.

* * *

The center was blank white, with an American flag fluttering nearby, a few parking spaces filled with Porsches, Lexus vehicles, Mercedes, GMCs. He looked at the green forest behind it and held his breath. If this was supposed to work he had to do it.

He stood up as soon as the other druggies grunted and hopped off their seats in reluctance. He pushed through the doors and walked to the glass door.

A rather pudgy man in a gray vest and curly gray hair was beaming sickly. "Good morning, my name is Professor Harris. Your name?"

"Harper," Speedy mumbled.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Harper, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Speedy felt a vein pop in his temple.

"Follow me please."

He lead him down the shiny hall to a white room that made him neither sick nor welcome. The walls were covered with plaques, awards, and certificates of excellence and acceleration. A fern grew beside the large window hidden behind white bindings. There was a green leather couch as well.

Speedy sighed and watched Professor Harris drag a stool to the couch. "Please have a seat, Mr. Harper."

He sighed and flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The circular patterns made him want to vomit. "All right, now, tell me how long you have suffered heroin addiction."

Roy looked down at his dirty fingernails and flexed his knuckles. "Well, when I was a kid…I just-"

But he closed his eyes instead and tried not to cry. No way was he going to explain to a stranger why his teammates hated his guts and wanted to kick him off the team. He may have studied this, true, but sometimes you don't want anyone messing with your personal life.

Instead, he made up a lie that both his parents were heroin dealers and in order to save him from being abducted they hid him in a closet they thought was cleared of the drug, which he grew addicted to after swallowing some, mistaking it for water.

The more he spoke, the more Harris tried to force out of him. He could tell Roy was lying, but he acted as if he believed him.

That whole time, Roy wanted to cry. Lying about his childhood was lying about himself. And lying about himself made him feel alone, scared, and vulnerable enough to collapse and die. Who was this man, trying to fix him right away? What a moron!

Several hours later Harris closed his tablet. "All right, Mr. Harper. That does it for today. Tomorrow, I want to continue talking about your past. All right?"

Speed mumbled. He and Harris shook hands and walked to the bus with all the other miserable stoners, all the while thinking of an escape route…

* * *

She was sitting on the couch reading fanfiction on a laptop Cy constructed for her out of boredom. _Yick, another BB/me story?_ she thought. _God, don't some people realize he's better off with Terra? (_A/N: Pardon me if you found this rude. I don't mean to offend others.)

She began reading an Argent story when her alarm went off. _Time to pick him up, _she thought closing her laptop and teleporting to the bus stop.

She reached the stop as soon as he hopped off the bus. He looked at her and gave her a sick smile. "How was it?" she asked.

"All right," he shrugged. She lead him to a dark alley and threw her arm around him to them home.

When they hit the living room, he took in his settings before charging at her within a second.

She blocked him with an arm sweep and sent him back, hitting the wall with a thud. He rubbed the back of his head before hopping back to his feet. "You should have never done that," he spat, blood dripping from his nose.

"You should have never done that," she hissed crossing her arms over her chest.

He sneered at her and stomped back to his room. Rae watched him with raised eyebrows, knowing he would be plotting an attack…

He flopped on top of his bed and fumed. Stupid counselors-how could they call themselves counselors if they just ask him about his addiction? Stupid Bee-why would she set him up for this torture when they were under enough stress? And stupid girl-when did she decide to act like Black Canary?

He needed to get out of here. This was hell. This was torture they were putting him through. The drug was his escape. But if he could not go back to Steel on foot…

He hopped off his bed and pulled out his Adidas bag.

* * *

Rae blew the steam away and walked up the steps gently holding the cup in her hands. She had boiled a kind of drink that was supposed to knock him out and cleanse his system, disguised as an ordinary Pepsi, as Bee suggested.

"Speed?" she asked knocking on his door. "Speed…I have a glass of soda for you…"

She opened the door and saw a wrinkled bed, open drawers, and an open window.

"Aw, GODDAMN IT!" she shrieked.

* * *

He shivered in the dark streets, drawing his hood tightly around his head. God, he thought this place was warmer than his town. Thank God he remembered the jacket. He had no idea where he was going, but he knew this was for his own good.

To his right, he saw a True Value still open, few people inside. Light bulb in his head, he walked over and approached the pretty red-headed cashier.

"Excuse me," he said, "where's your gasoline?"

Denise wrinkled her brow. "Ninth row on the left," she said.

"Thanks." He walked over and five minutes later came back dragging five gallons of gasoline. "How much is this?"

Denise scanned the gallons and typed on the register. "Seventy-five," she said.

Speed smirked and whipped out Bee's True Value card he stole from her wallet.

Somehow, he was able to drag five gallons of practically bricks down the sidewalks to his least favorite place in the city. God, he hoped this would work. Unscrewing the gallons and pouring them one around the base of the building he pulled the other four up, poured them on the roof, and whipped out a match.

"Goodbye, rehab," he whispered as he lit the match and threw it in the puddle of gas.

* * *

She pressed her forehead to the brick and silently wept. Sweet mother, why does this have to be so hard? This was not supposed to be so hard!

She closed her eyes and sat Indian style, holding her face to her hands. Slowly she calmed herself down and set her soul self looking for Speed.

He was running from a pile of wild flames, smiling evilly. His heart rate was increasing and his face was feeling hot, but that didn't matter now. Sweet! Now all I have to do-ah!

She was suddenly in front of him, her arms crossed and an evil glare in her eyes. "Where do you think you're going?" she spat.

He stood there, heart pounding and blood shaking. "Um…"

She shook her head and slammed a garbage can against the back of his head.

* * *

So yeah, I'm back after a long absence. Please review, and I'll review your stories for you.

Here's the question-should I continue with this story? If you don't want me to, let me know. I don't have many reviews left, so I don't know if people are still reading, so yea or nay?


	6. Chapter 6

I'm back again and have decided to continue anyway. I want to thank cartunegirl56, IReadFromTheLastPage (well, you reviewed, so of course I mention you!), and Un conte de fees.

This is where I mention some of Roy's background because I think he's a bit of a sympathetic character who picked up drugs because life was too harsh on him. Also, I thought it'd be nice to explore what makes drug addicts turn to drugs. Personally, I find the show _Intervention _disturbing, but my family likes it, so they make me listen to the stories. So, enjoy.

If I owned the show, not only would the TE appear more, but they'd have their own spinoff (ha ha ha!).

* * *

Roy groaned in his sleep, his back as sore as possible and his mouth dehydrated. His hip and knee bones were shaking and on the verge of snapping. His tongue felt and tasted fuzzy.

"Wake up, Roy," a female voice whispered over his ear, "wake up."

Slowly the Emerald Archer's former assistant awoke-and inhaled.

He knew Rae was beside him, but where?

He looked down at himself and saw that she tied four rubber ropes around his ankles and wrists to the bed post. Another rope was fastened around his waist like a belt and under the mattress.

"What the-what the hell-"

"Enough said, Roy," Rae snapped sitting on a stool at his left. "You're in enough trouble as is, so you might as well dig yourself out."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw she wore sweatpants with violet lining running down the sides, and a T-shirt with a black crow on it.

He blew hair out of his face and mumbled. "Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it?"

She pinned his head down against the mattress. "You want me to remove you, there's only one ting to do-talk about it."

He snorted. "You're just like one of those counselors in rehab, girl!"

She slapped him across the face. "Too late, boy-you just made me a counselor. Now listen before I tell the police that you're the one who burned the building down-it made the front page, and I don't think Rob would be too happy to see your face in a mug shot."

He moaned. Rob was ticking him off.

"So-I want you to tell me a little bit about yourself, starting with your origin-we know the Green Arrow took you in and made you his sidekick, but I want to know where you were born, and why did you leave?"

He sighed and closed his eyes, defeated. "Well, I don't know where I was born, but…" He paused and hissed in pain.

"What?" she growled.

He shut his eyes tight. "M-m-m-my leg!" he yelled. "My right l-l-l-leg-Ouch!"

Still not believing him, Rae pulled his shoe off and held his sweating foot in her hands. Slowly she looked down and healed his leg in a flash of light. She automatically realized that his foot was asleep-but in a tangled way. It felt as if his muscles were twisted together and useless. Even worse, she found out that he would be suffering fevers, illness, and hallucinations for about a month.

He whimpered and trembled until he panted. "H-her-give-give me heroin…"

She put her hands on his chest, glowing white, and he was no longer tense. He was asleep before he could finish.

Rae untied the ropes and flipped him over so his soaked back was facing her. With her powers, a bowl filled with water landed on her lap, a blue sponge floating on the surface.

She pulled his jersey off and smoothed the sponge over his back, absorbing sweat and heat. His breath hitched and slowly relaxed. Her eyes rolled down his toned, fit, and well-built back, his spine and shoulder blades trying to pull out from his skin.

"Oh, Roy," she gasped in horror. She sponged his entire back and looked at his soaked pants. They were melted against his fit legs.

Not believing what she had to do while a monster in her chest growled, she slid her hands under his waist, undid is belt and pants, and hastily slid down his wet clothing. She looked up at the wall, the feeling of déjà vu sweeping over her and reminding her of when she was stuck undressing an unconscious BB when he collapsed due to dehydration. However, this was worse than touching his underwear after a workout.

Even his boxers were soaked. She hid them under a pillow, her heart wild and the creature in her chest drooling. She sighed and began sponging his wet legs.

She considered telling Rob, but knew that he and Bee would demand that she let him die-it was his fault, he destroyed the thing that could've saved his life, and there's no way they would defend him in court.

So she knew she had to do this alone….

He rolled his head to the side and saw her walk in carrying a full laundry basket. She did not seem aware that he was awake. He watched her kneel down and pull open a drawer, where she set neatly folded jerseys inside.

"Rae?" he mumbled.

"You're up?" she asked. It struck him that she had her hair pulled back.

"I'm thirsty," he mumbled.

She helped him drink a glass of water and rubbed his bare back while she sat beside him. "I'm feeling a bit sluggish."

Rae massaged his neck and smiled at his moan. "Get used to it," she said.

He inched his mouth to the side. She ran her hand down his spine and smoothed his shoulder blades.

Knock, knock, knock.

Rae stood up and pressed her hand to Roy's back. "I'll be right back," she whispered walking out of the room. She peered through the peephole and opened the door.

Aqua was standing in front of her, sporting an Underarmor hooded shirt that contrasted his face, jeans that had several pockets, and regular running shoes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked knowing the answer.

Aqua sighed and whipped out the newspaper. "Does he have anything to do with this?" he hissed.

Rae didn't need to look at it. "Why? What's wrong?"

The Atlantian warrior folded his arms. "I was helping BB locate a poisoned whale when I heard what happened," he said. "I know Roy was involved."

Rae huffed and crossed her arms over her chest and opened her mouth to deny it again. "He's going to be arrested," Aqua said ignoring her open mouth.

Her eyes silently widen. "What?"

"I know he participated," Aqua spat. "He better turn himself in because if he doesn't, they say the suspects will be in jail for five years,"

"Ouch," she growled sarcastically. "Well, he wasn't involved."

Aqua smiled sadly and shook his head. "You're lying," he said. "I know because in all of the years I've known you, Rae, you were never good at it."

He handed her the newspaper and walked away.

She took one look at it-and ran to the room.

"Speed," she hissed shaking him awake. "Speed, Roy, get up, get out of bed-"

He mumbled and rubbed his eyes. "What?" he yawned.

She handed him the paper. "Aqua was here and gave me this."

His eyes widen as he scanned the front page. "Oh no…"

"They could keep you in prison for five years, we need to do something," she said.

"We can't just run away," he warned. "They'll know it in a heartbeat and keep you in jail, too."

"They know where you are for now," she said, "but they won't know who did it."

She grabbed a pair of gloves, a sheet of paper, and began boosting up their unused computer. "Name me two of your old dealers."

"Why, what are you doing?"

She smirked and whispered her plan in his ear. He pulled away and paled. "All right," he said, "but we don't have their fingerprints."

"I'll just fly us over to their den, drug them, and put their fingertips on," she said. "Ready?"

"Use Frank and Manny," he nodded. "They are the big dealers."

She smiled evilly. "All right."

* * *

The police came a few hours later and interviewed both of them, but a recently showered Roy said he was asleep at that time. Rae didn't get her team's message because, as she lied, she was cooking dinner and did not notice that her device fell under the running faucet (she disabled it behind her back during the interview and handed it to him as he questioned her).

Two days later, the call came in. Frank and Manny had mailed a threat to the police that if he didn't return to his place, they would burn down the rehab and kidnap him if they could find him. Hours later, the TE came in with the handcuffed dealers.

The two were charged with distribution of illegal drugs, rape, and manslaughter. At the trial, they repeated their innocence, claiming they were never even here, and they were unaware the boy was missing. All that time, the two were packing their personal belongings and bags.

But when the police went to the motel to ask Roy to testify ("What if I had to go?" he asked her, to which she responded, "Just lie that your father's friend was involved and they targeted you to make him upset"), they found an inch of dust, two broken devices, and a letter explaining that they had run away after hearing the threats and disabled their communicators to avoid any trace of them in case somebody else stole another's communicator to track them down, with a promise to find another rehab for the boy.

Personally, Rob wanted to kill them.

But he still did not recover from his pain.

* * *

They found an isolated yet stabled-furnished house in Virginia, a long distance from both coasts. He warned her that his old partners were nearby, but she said that she could handle it. He lifted an eyebrow, but he was too tired to argue. She gave-and watched him fully swallow-a sleeping pill while she left to go shopping. When she returned home, she found him sleeping on the couch. Sighing, she pulled his belt off, sat down next to hi, covered a blanket over his bare arms, and rested his head on her lap.

She didn't know what was up with herself, so she looked down at his face. It was annoying to everyone on the team how people considered him 'Rob's twin,' so she asked herself if he did drugs in an attempt to separate him from Rob, but even she had to ignore that. It would've been 'Rob's dangerous twin.'

Even so, why did he use heroin if he was supposed to stop them?

"Roy," she asked, "are you awake?"

He only snored in response.

She smiled and leaned her head back against the couch.

* * *

_Rae looked around her mind, panic shaking down her body. "Intelligence! What was that?"_

_The yellow personality figure with round Harry Potter glasses threw her a disbelieving look and shook her head. "You must wake up."_

_Rae's heart skipped a beat. "W-what is it-"_

_Timid gave her a meek/serious look. "Brave told me to tell you to go. Something's wrong with Roy."_

"_Oh, crap!"_

_Rae hastily ran out. _

"_Be careful!"_

* * *

Rae snapped back to earth in a heartbeat. Her heart was beating so fast she feared of a heart attack. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.

Then a loud, blood-curling scream woke her fully awake.

She looked down only as soon as Roy's head smashed against her ribs and began screaming. His face was shining and burning on her lap.

"Da-da-dad, no-please-please no-no, don't-no-dad-GIVE ME A SHOT!"

She slammed her hand over his mouth and slapped the side of his face. He gasped loudly and blinked. "W-wh-what…"

"Roy," Rae whispered gently. "You were suffering a hallucination. You're safe."

"N-n-no, I'm not!" he said in a panicked state. She felt him shaking under her hand. "My-my ribs….they were burning like fire in hell…"

"Roy," she said soothingly as he sat up and removed his mask. She watched him rub his eyes and look back at her.

She stared at the red eyes and smoothed his hair back. "What happened?" he moaned.

"Hallucination," she said.

"Jesus," he muttered. He turned his dark back to her and rubbed his face. "Oh my God, I'm sorry."

"Roy, it's normal," she said. "You didn't overdose, but your fever is up."

"Fever?" he asked. "Why didn't you-"

"You fell asleep," she said. "I know you don't want to think about your hallucinations. How bad are they?"

"None of your business," he mumbled. He stood up and turned around. "I'm getting a glass of water."

She tugged on his pants and he fell right back down in a thump. He threw her a dirty look and she shook her head. "No way," she said. "We need to get to the bottom of this. Now, do you know what makes Rob and me close?"

He shook his head dumbly.

"We have a mental bond," she said. "I went into his mind and saw his memories."

He nodded, dread growing in his gut…

"So I want a bond with you."

Roy shook his head. "Fuck no! You're not going into my mind-"

"You have no choice, Roy," she argued pinning him down by the chest. "This is the only way to help you." Then, in a calmer tone, "Don't think about a memory-I can find one without you having to think of it."

He glared at her-she glared back-until his face fell and he bowed his head. She pushed his bangs aside, pressed her forehead to his, and closed her eyes.

* * *

_She was suffocating. Her eyes were burning and it was undeniably sweltering. "D-d-da-DADDY!"_

_A pair of strong arms pulled her from the ground and held her to the chest of a strong man, but her eyes were too fogged for use._

"_Harper!" a deep Native American voice boomed out near her ear. She squinted and turned her head._

_It wasn't her friend, but it looked like it! He had red hair, muscular arms, and a chiseled face. She looked over his shoulder and saw several medium-dark-skinned people huddled in a crowd. _

"_Junior!" he yelled. He ran forward and pulled her from the man and swung her around in his arms. Then he paused and looked at the man. She lifted her head from his chest-and saw flames BURSTING from a forest. _

_Forest fire, she realized._

"_Brave Bow," her father said, "I'm going back in. There might be more-"_

"_Mr. Harper, no! What if you die?"_

_Her father looked down and kissed the top of her head. "Then I will die like a hero."_

_He handed her back to Bow. "Please keep an eye on my boy until I get back. He's all I have left."_

_He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Roy."_

_Then he ran toward the flames._

"DADDYYYYYYYY!"

* * *

Rae pulled from his mind and hung her head, sweating down the sides of her face. "Oh, God…"

Roy's face was in her leg, lying still. "I need to break this up in a few days," she muttered to herself. "I don't know if him having a horrible past is better or worse than I expect."

Quietly she stood up and walked to the kitchen for a cup of tea and something to read.

* * *

So what do you guys think? Good or bad? If you have some advice on how to detail his background, I'd be flattered to hear it. Otherwise, a review is acceptable...or maybe I will discontinue (don't think I'm joking around for attention-I'm actually serious, because if nobody wants me to continue, just say so. I'll stop). Anyway, happy New Years! Another year into a new decade!


	7. Chapter 7

Back after a month! I want to thank IReadFromTheLastPage, crazy nerd (thanks for your 'Father's Day' review, can you review chapter 5 please?), More-than-Ever17, and RainingHearts4Ever.

I apologize if there is more action in this chapter than the previous ones.

Rae hissed angrily and wiped the blood from her face. Her body was so angry she didn't care if the world blew up. She unrolled twelve sheets of toilet paper, ran them underwater, and held the wad under her nose. It wasn't his fault, but she wanted it to be his fault…

It had started out so innocently.

She walked back to the couch with a tea and magazine about health over the winter. Her mind was in a haze. He was lying on the couch facedown and was watching her out of the corner of his eye. She didn't talk to him, and he was worried that she did see his memories, so he didn't speak either. His childish screams still echoed in her mind.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

"Yes," he mumbled lying his head back down. "Just tired…"

She sat down beside him and teleported them back to his room. His clothes were still wet, so she turned a fan on and helped him redress into dry, clean clothes. He threw his wet clothes beside the door. "Are you feeling better?" she asked.

He nodded, feeling slightly babied but enjoying the care. "Yeah," he said. "I'm fine."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll be downstairs. Call if you need anything." She stood up and walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"Rae," he called out. She opened the door the second after that. "What?" she asked.

"What did you see in my mind?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Get some sleep if you can," she said. She turned around and before he could open his mouth she closed the door once again.

Once again feeling dejected, he turned his head to the window and sighed at the sight of the moon, staring back at him. He liked to look at the moon. The moon is said to represent goodness, peace, pureness…basically, everything good. The moon stared back at him. Could goodness arrive to him? He certainly hoped so…

He smiled and fell asleep watching his hopeful friend.

* * *

She sipped her tea and read the magazine at the table, sucking on a piece of caramel, although she did not taste it or concentrate on the magazine. For some reason, she severely missed her friends and preferred watching a movie with them instead of here. She didn't know Roy that much, but she knew she had to help him with something. She swallowed the caramel and replayed the death of his father in her mind.

A sudden thrust of pain shot in her chest and she fell off of her chair, crying in pain. The teacup crashed beside her and sudden memories shot at her-watching a crying woman, feeling a bruised face, being sucked into a gem and crying in fear, a bunch of golden copies of her new team's leader dragging her somewhere that faded to a white-haired man with different colored eyes entering her mind, a lady with a cat mask and green robe snapping her bow in half and knocking her out cold, being trapped in a tube and struggling to break out until she saw an ugly scientist pushing a plug and she was frozen still and cold.

She laid on her back, panting, her face breaking out in a cold sweat, the pain still lingering all around her body. She was frozen for ten minutes at least, unable to move. It was like being frozen. "Heroin," she croaked, "n-need…h-h-heroin…"

In her mind, her multicolored copies were screaming, running, and sweating in fear.

* * *

"_Stop!" Intelligence screamed. "Girl, stop! It's not you!"_

_Even Brave was shaking and hugging Happy who was flinching. Anger jumped into the arms of Timid, who was wailing. "It's not you!" they all screamed. She couldn't listen, her side was exploding in pain and eating her intestines like hell-_

_She scrunched her eyes closed and reopened them. What…what…_

"_Oh no, Roy!" she realized._

* * *

She sprung back up on her feet and dashed up the stairs. "Roy!" she yelled. "Roy, wake up!"

She kicked the door into pieces and once again saw a stripped bed and open window. "Oh no," she gasped, "not again!"

* * *

Roy scooped up the drinks and smiled. "Thanks, Jeff," he said to the host, who huffed in return. He turned around and sat down at the table with the girls snorting cocaine and holding heroin needles. Piles of white junk, empty glasses of cocktail drinks, and stacks of dollar bills melted his brain and made him feel somewhat nauseated.

The music thumped and the walls were red thanks to the light. The scary-thin ladies giggled at him and thanked for their alcohol. He leaned back and folded his arms, head warning him of a massive migraine.

He had no memory of getting there, but somehow he felt like heroin reentered his obsession. Something triggered his mind into entering a local bar-it was like he had a conscious that blindfolded him and told him where to go-and he found several drug dealers there-plenty of hot chicks whom he knew would help recharge his fortune. It was simple, as Manny told him-buy them cocktails, make them feel relaxed, talk about your business, buy heroin, and get that sweet ass of yours back to your destination, where your reward is awaiting.

There was no way he was letting something block him from ripping back to Steel and going back to his position-all the while forgetting about his friends and half-remembering if someone read about his past.

One of the blond ones with wavy locks threw an arm over his shoulders and kissed the side of his neck. "So, Roy," she started seductively, "how good are you at this?"

He took a swig of Samuel Adams and belched. "Sorry," he apologized. "My dealerships rank me the best among them," he lied. "I just sell all they give me, and I come back loaded." He took another swig of beer, never haven sipped one before even when he began dealing with drugs, and felt slightly dizzier. It was worse than sour milk. "I've been at this for six years."

A stunning redhead giggled and crawled up to him. "You know, Roy," she whispered, "do you want to go to my car and pick up some?"

"Yes," Roy hiccupped. His face and ears were flaming hot and his inner legs were sweating.

The blond picked up his beer and held it to his lips. "Little more beer, baby?" she cooed. She chugged it down his throat before he could respond.

The redhead moaned and batted her eyelashes. "Oh, sweetie, come on, someone might rob my car."

If his mind was working, he would tell himself that they were using him and probably going to kill him…

He hiccupped again as she slid his arm over hers and slowly dragged him out of the booth and door. The outdoor air was cold and the city lights blinded him along with his blinding vision. His feet dragged against the pavement. He heard a car opening and smell leather polisher as soon as someone dragged him inside and he heard a door slam closed.

He moaned as the alcohol began rubbing his system. Every few moments he jerked at the feeling of waste in his body jump in his throat and run down his blood. His heart began pumping when he felt his front body being exposed and chilled. Then he felt something cold as stones on his chest and sparks popped in his abdomen.

Redhead began running a trail of kisses down his chest and center of his abdomen to his navel. He moaned louder at each and felt himself go hard, threatening to rip from his jeans.

"More booze, baby?" she giggled.

"Yes…please…" he croaked forgetting they were no longer at the bar.

She smirked and slid a hand into his pocket.

* * *

Rae sat on his bed and rubbed her face. She had searched every inch of this dump for him and now he escaped while they were suffering the same pain-

Wait. She did not remember her pain-but she could recall some moments she never saw or heard of. Who was that girl in the cat mask?

_We have a bond! _the girl realized. _I've been in his mind-now I can go into his mind again! Those were memories he had when he joined our team! God, how did I forget that? Oh my God, Dick, I miss you._

She sighed and cleared her mind meditating again. _I have to do this for you, Roy-this is for your own good!_

* * *

Roy was drowning in his own heat, in desperation and in fear. His eyes had rolled to the back of his head and his muscles were torn up. The windows had fogged up and he was throbbing so hard he thought his lower body would explode.

Redhead was taking advantage of his body, with nips, licks, and kisses. Every time he begged for more and flexed his legs, she gave it to him, all the while feeding her wallet.

"I like you, Harper," she purred. "You taste so delicious. I think we should continue business together, get high, getting drunk, exchange heroin and all that heavenly goodness…"

Roy moaned and began choking on his own vomit. She did not glance at him at all.

_Knock, knock, knock-_

The girl growled and rolled down the window. A girl wearing a white jersey and baseball cap was peering into the car. "Did someone order a pizza?" she asked.

The redhead snorted. "No," she said. "I have some business to deal with-"

Rae, mentally ripping off the uniform, shoved her hand in and gripped the girl by the throat. "No way are you going to kill my friend," she hissed before beating the girl against the roof of the car. She collapsed onto the floor of her vehicle while Rae reached in and gasped at the sight of her friend.

Rae shoved her hands under his arms and pulled him out. "Damn you, Roy," she spat as she threw him on the truck and slid his button-down shirt over his torso. When he was fully dressed, she helped him to his feet and slung his arms over her shoulders. The scent of beer and cocktails nearly stole her sense of smell. "Oh my God, Roy, how much did you drink-"

His face widened and he vomited over her shoulder.

"Ewe, ewe, ewe, ewe, ewe," she complained as bile splat on the ground behind her. His body slung against hers and he uttered something inaudible.

"Come on," she winced scooping him up in her arms. She anonymously dialed 911 and reported a siren-tramp in the parking lot of a drug-crazed bar.

* * *

Sunlight woke Roy up in the morning, and the first thing he noticed was that his mouth felt horrible and his digestive system was rotten. The back of his neck prickled and his brain seized up as well.

"Roy," someone whispered. "Here, let me help you."

He winced as someone pushed him to sit up but gave no effort. His throat was burning and his muscles felt raw and sore. "Too weak…" he moaned.

"Blah," the person spat. He groggily lifted his hand and rubbed his eye. He saw Rae sitting in front of him, her hands under his sweaty arms, trying to make him sit up.

"Rae…" he mumbled.

"Yes, Roy, it's me," she said. "You okay?"

He swallowed and gripped her biceps. "What happened last night?"

_Oh crap, _she thought, _he's losing his memory!_ She put her hand on the top of his wet head and sent the memories into his head. She could also see he somehow hit his head, so she secretly healed it.

Roy's eyes snapped open. "Oh crap," he gasped, "Rae, what happened at the bar last night? Did the police come or something? Did someone hit me or something? I can't remember…"

"Roy, you're fine," she said blowing on the back of his neck to cool him down. Her fingers lightly graced his carrot hair. Then her voice grew tougher and slightly nastier. "I don't know what inspired you to run away like that, but I found you in some siren's car-"

"Rae, how DARE you!" he shrieked jumping away from her. "I know what happened! I was doing business with that chick and you interrupted our-"

"They were using you, Roy," she interrupted firmly but calmly. "They weren't really going to give you that heroin-they're sirens, damn it! They were going to drug you, knock you out cold, steal your money, keep the heroin, and leave you to die!"

She stood up and walked in front of him, crossing her arms like a teacher lecturing a disruptive student. "You should be ashamed of yourself! We worked as hard as we could to get you to rehab, we're wasting our time finding one for you, and yet you treat our care and hard work like shit!"

"It is shit!" he roared. "Why do you even bother? It's my life, MY personal life, my business, my freedom, and I never even wanted Karen to get involved in this-"

"Well guess what, Harper," she spat, "you not only got her involved, you DRAGGED us with you, and now we're trying to pull you out!"

Roy's legs were prickling and asleep, but he pushed himself to stand up, gripping his knees for balance. He didn't even get her name and she took that chance from him. "I…hate…you…" he growled shakily, his hands sinking into his thighs.

"Go ahead, hit me," she encouraged him.

He jumped up, but she moved out of the way in time. "You didn't hit me," she said as he landed on his knees.

Head feeling numb and light, he hunched forward and vomited. "Ewe," she complained staring at his hair and not the toxic waste pouring from his lips.

His elbows shook and he stood up on shaky knees. "You're going to d-die," his voice coming out like a dragon. He sprinted in her direction and crashed right into the counter.

"Whoops," she said again rising from the floor, "you ran into the wrong thing again."

He grabbed a teacup and aimed it at her.

She caught it with her powers and held it in her hands. "Sorry, once again," she shrugged.

_Quit playing around, _intelligence screamed. _He's going to continue until he gets you or dies! And he's weakening. _

He clutched his lower abdomen and ran to the sink, lurching and spitting.

She sighed and edged cautiously to his side. "Roy-"

He spun around and punched her directly in the center of her nose.

She stumbled and fell on her back, her hands over her face. She healed it but not in time to escape his attack and his hands on her neck, his nails leaving marks on her flesh. Bee's story came directly toward her, and she kneed him in the gut, dodging her head to avoid his third vomit attack. She disappeared from view, appeared behind him, and slapped a plate over the back of his head.

The porcelain edges fell into jags at his side. Rae dragged his body to the couch and wiped the vomit from his face. Remembering stories of alcoholics drowning in their own vomit, she laid him on his stomach on the couch before cleaning up the bile and spraying quick-working yet subtle lavender-scented room spray on the spots of attack…

By the time she was done, she collapsed onto the couch and ran her clean hands down her face. What a stupid idea breaking their communication electrons-this was something Rob should be doing, not her. She should be in her room, reading a book, napping, meditating, or working on the car.

_Well, you agreed to volunteer for this, _she scolded herself. _Now there's nothing you can do! You need to help him overcome why he lives his life like an athlete on steroids!_

It was then that she remembered his childish dreams, what they were calling for…

* * *

Roy gagged and shakily lifted his head up. _What happened last night? _he thought groggily to himself. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes. His face was unwashed and sticky. He rubbed the back of his neck and felt a pimple forming under his nape. His scalp was itchy and his mouth tasted sour and HORRIBLE!

He swallowed the bitter taste and tried rolling off the couch, but he felt as if his legs had been chopped off.

"Ouch!" He landed on his back and rolled onto his front. His bile-scented-and-tasted breath exploded in his throat. A prickle of needles stabbed the back of his brain and crawled their way up to his forehead.

"You okay?" the dry voice asked, suddenly beside him.

"Ugh, my stomach's sick," he mumbled.

She sighed and mentally sat him back up on the couch. "Drink this," she said handing him a bottle of water. "It'll help you wash the toxins out of your system."

He accepted it and gulped down the entire bottle, his throat rising and falling in about 3.01 seconds. "You must be really thirsty," she said.

He panted and rubbed his eyes. "What happened last night?" he asked, the bottle falling from his hands.

"You were-"

"Oh wait, I-I think I remember-there was a bar, there was-"

"A team of heroin dealers who act like sirens to trap and drug dealers to steal their money and drugs," she finished.

He closed his eyes and sighed through his rancid teeth. "I hit you, didn't I?" he growled.

"Yes," she said looking at her knees.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. He apparently forgot how he was PISSED at her pulling him out of the little adventure.

She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

A moment of silence followed…until she broke it. "It wasn't your fault."

He bit his lip and stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"All right," she said. "If you want to brush your teeth, I found an unused brush and toothpaste. Just to let you know, I found security cameras in the basement that give off a warning signal if you try to escape, so be careful."

"Thanks, mom," he growled walking to the bathroom.

Rae pulled her hair behind her ear and curled her toes. "I need a cup of tea," she murmured. She had pulled the kettle and a cup out when she heard him walk out. His face was shiny and dripping.

"Did you wash your face?" she asked.

"Yes I did, mom," he growled flopping on the couch. She heard the TV flip on and him dragging a blanket to his chin.

Rae yawned as she hunched over the sink. The back of her throat was dry and her eyelids threatened to close against her will. Instead of filling the pot, she turned the cold water on and rubbed her face.

Ever since Roy reluctantly allowed her to step in his shoes and experience that horrible memory (it struck her that his father's body was never recovered after that), she lost hours of sleep not just finding a new home or helping him with those painful body twists (what were they? She knew it was unusual) but thinking about what she saw-or rather lived through. He lost his father in a forest fire. _Hello,_ she told herself, _BB's parents died in a flood, Cy's mother died in a lab explosion and his father a few years later, and Rob's parents died in that circus_-but was that a real reason to 'fill' that pain with heroin? No way!

So if Roy was aware his reputation-and those of his teammates-could be hurt, why would he refuse to give up?

* * *

The whole bar-drug scene (cited with his womanizing and buying drinks for women at bars in the comics) was my idea of symbolizing the idea of being forced into rehab or mental exploration, but then something happens and the addict falls back into his addiction. If there was something in my 'experiment' you didn't like or thought needed more exploration, let me know so I can improve it as well as know what to do if I plan on different drug-related stories in the future.

I had no idea where I got the idea of making Rae impersonate a pizza-deliverer-I just wanted to try something new, so if you think it didn't make sense, I apologize. I just thought it would be best if you impersonate something instead of barging into a private place and embarrassing yourself if you discover you were wrong. :/

Sorry I didn't get the good action in earlier. I just thought of it.

Hey, I have something I'd like to share-I'm planning a series of one-shots centering the TE with/out West. What do you think? Let me know if you come up with good story plots.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello, fellow readers. This is chapter 8. I want to thank Punk Rockette, Bellarusa and horrorchick25 (No, it's not completed, just a few more chapters) for their reviews.

* * *

She gave up on the pot of tea and sat with Roy beside the couch. He was leaning up against several pillows watching some news broadcast. The police had busted the sirens and they were going to be charged within a matter of days, thanks to an anonymous caller. Roy stiffened, and Rae glanced at him. If her teacher and the monks have taught her anything, it was watching others suffer sucks. He blinked at the TV, then yawned and closed his eyes.

She turned the TV off, missing Cy and BB's arguments over the remote, and rested his head on her knee. Anger told her that she knew she was growing frustrated with trying to walk around in his shoes, Timid told her this could mark her forever, and Rude told her not to waste her time but ask stupid Lust (who, along with Happy, was trying to grow flowers everywhere…) to stop trying to fill her mind with romantic thoughts. Rae shuddered and stroked his spiky hair. She wondered what it would take to control Lust.

Suddenly Roy's head began shaking on her lap. She looked down at him hastily. His eyes were screwed shut, his chest stood out, and he was wincing and breathing hard. His body began shaking and sweating.

"N-n-no, p-p-please…I…I l-love…"

She put her hands on his chest and her hands glowed in the dim room. Something was chewing on his collarbone, she felt. He panted and relaxed. This was already making her sick, entering his mind and trying to solve the pieces of the puzzle, but any wise man would say it was best to collect as much evidence as you can to solve the mystery. _Well, this is the best way to find out what's eating him alive,_ she told herself. _But still, why does this happen only when something in his body hurts? _

She sighed to herself and entered his mind again.

* * *

"_Donna," she whispered, tears drifting a chill across her face. __"Donna, please…"_

_She was standing in a brightly lit room with messy drawers and framed photographs that were hard to see through her tears. Actually, she was sitting on a bed propped against a mountain of pillows._

_In front of her, an attractive young woman with long black hair and star earrings wept silently. "Oh, baby," she whispered shakily, "I don't want to do this…"_

"_Then why are you?" Rae wept._

_Her lover's eyeliner began to smudge. "Because I have to!" she cried. "We're going in different directions, we're…we're just…too different."_

_Rae reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Donna, please….Don't say that."_

"_We are!" Donna cried sitting up. "I love you as hell, Roy, but if we move away from each other, it-"_

"_Then let's not!" Rae yelled. Already she was feeling sick._

"_Roy…" she sniffed, trying to push her hands away, "please…you know that's what we have to do. And it's unhealthy…to hold on to the past."_

_Rae's throat swelled. She nodded and released Donna._

"_Roy…" Donna said slowly._

_Rae stood up and walked to her bedroom door to go to Ollie's place._

* * *

Rae blinked and looked down at his sleeping face. He was apparently unaware of another of his secret origin being revealed.

She was aware that he was more of a ladies' man than Garth looked like he was combined with that BB wanted to be. So he has been in love before, she thought. He was in love, and the girl rejected him. That was normal.

She held her face in her hands. Memories of a particular blond crushing Gar's love abilities and heart assailed her again and she remembered him weeping, losing his appetite, asking her and Cy if they would give him a shoulder to cry on, pulverizing the training room, and losing control of himself, but he was the team clown. By the time he went back to his old self…she returned to kill not just his heart-but his life as well as the others. She remembered him talking to Dick one day and him mentioning some girl named Jillian he was in love with in High School in his days with the DP, but she gave up love after his old guardian used her as a threat against him. That was why he tried to be the King of Humor-an attempt to hide his pain and troubled background.

Vic told her that before his accident that killed his mother he was in a relationship with a girl named Marcy, who ended it all after he stepped out half a man. However, wasn't that supposed to be more painful than a girl leaving him in order to move on with life? But she and Star kind of proved to him that just because you're friends with a girl doesn't mean you have to be romantically involved with them…they were like sisters to him. Besides, he found relief in the team, a new family.

She didn't remember if Dick had any other love interests before Star, so she had to skip over that.

Then there was the dragon…Rae shut her eyes closed and allowed her tears to fall onto Roy's face.

When a serious romance ends, it's like the world sinks below you, BB once told her through his tears. You don't know how to walk and yet you don't know how to walk anymore. When something you loved is gone, you wonder how you'll move on and without that person. He was forced to do that with his parents-now any chances he had of serious dating, even engagement and maybe a family in the future with the girl he loved was over.

She shook her head and stroked his neck. Why he handled pain like this unlike the others was beyond her. Nevertheless, she carried an eating tray next to his head, set a bowl of water near the couch, and turned the lights off.

She took a short, hot shower and sat down on the tub, enjoying the feeling of hot water pouring down on her head and down her back. What was an uncontrolled fever like, feeling hot all the time, bathed in sweat-or something worse?

She envisioned a pair of soft hands rubbing her shoulders and stroking her back lovingly and gentle. "You feeling all right, darling?" a rough voice kissed her ear.

She moaned and nodded. The person encouraged her to stand up and rest her head on his shoulder. She obeyed and moaned at his hands and kisses on the side of her neck. The bathroom smelled of strawberries and something sweet…

Rae rubbed the back of her neck as she turned the water off, dried herself, and changed into violet sweatpants as well as a navy sweatshirt. All she wanted was a hot shower, but she feared something would happen to her little victim. She moved back to Roy, who had fallen off the couch, was watching her sheepishly, and attempted to crawl back onto the couch.

She set him on the couch and wiped his wet hair from his face. "I'm sorry I hit you like that."

He turned to his side and winced. "I deserved it," he muttered.

She shook her head no, sat Indian style beside him, and flipped the magazine open to a page about tanning.

There were a good two minutes when Rae finished her cup and decided it was time for a refill.

It was then that she heard something outside.

* * *

Now the next chapter may be longer, but that's because I want Rae to develop her feelings for him, as in both comic and animated she suffered troubled love, which is something they have in common. Don't give up yet-the future chapters will be longer, I guarantee.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello, everyone. I'd like to thank JoanneLikesVolleyball, apersonfromflorida, JinkPrincess13 (where did I make that flaw?), and IReadFromTheLastPage.

* * *

Rae couldn't recall what it was, but she knew it was something, anything-a branch snapping, a dog barking, a car driving, a foot stepping into a puddle, crickets chirping…but it wasn't any of those. She decided not to use her soul self in case something deadly was outside-or Roy could have a sudden outbreak and she would hurt herself.

"Rae, why are you standing near the windows?" Roy yawned.

Rae held up a hand and slowly stepped back.

It happened so fast, but Roy could remember some of the events-he recalled Rae sprinted over to him, slammed his face to the carpet floor, and kept him pressed down. At that moment, he heard gunshots bursting through the windows and glass cracking behind him. Shatters of glass poured over the floor at his feet, and he had a vision of something sharp and deadly going through his neck…

"Rae, move us to another-"

"I can't," she said. "I don't know what's up there and a bullet could shoot my soul self."

Roy pressed his hand to the back of her head and grinded his teeth together. _Save me save me save me-_

In a moment, the firing stopped.

A silent five seconds passed before Roy sobbed. "Rae? You all right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine."

Both panted in the smoke and burning glass.

She automatically had a feeling it was an act of revenge.

"Come on, we need to get out of here."

* * *

For the second time that month, they were forced to another location, this time a rented apartment (she used a Titan card) in Florida. Roy asked, why Orange Kingdom, and she said, because it's calmer. They have some good rehabs. Then he said I don't understand why you want to look into my past before I go to rehab, to which she responded, I want you to be comfortable with what you'll talk about. His mouth twitched and he fell asleep.

Settling into Florida was something that ended up clearing her mind about a few things. One of her favorite parts was that every day, she woke up and went to bed at the soft sounds of the ocean and waves, children squealing, and leaves rustling. Roy seemed to like it too-every day, she woke up to him on his knees in the TV room or on his bed looking out the window at Orange Kingdom. "I'd love to go out there," he whispered to himself.

"You have to get better first," she told him as she went for a cup of tea. He would sigh and sometime later vomit, cry of muscle pain, and sweat as if he was in an oven. As he had been using it for years, he had so many symptoms it made her ill. Despite his fever, he would suffer chills and she would hold him to her while he sweated and twitched. Although he wouldn't be able to eat anything due to his exhaustion, she spoon-fed him peanut butter and bought lots of mouthwash, toothpaste, and countless toothbrushes enough to clean a family of five for two years.

She was recalling the dreams as she flopped down on the bed beside his one night. He was lying on his back, perhaps exhausted from his constant vomiting and outbursts, his arms folded over his head, and his face more peaceful than it has been in ages. She turned to her right and leaned her head against her hand. It took her a while to admit to herself that he was extremely handsome when he slept. She watched his face until sleep swept over her eyes as well.

It was a scream that flapped her eyes wide open.

He was screaming on the bed, his arms trying to pull away from the sheets his sweat weighed down. His face was dripping with sweat and wet spots grew under his knees, chest, and arms.

"Roy," she gasped jumping on top of him and holding his face, which was burning her hands. A wave of heat rolled down her back and face and she squeezed his legs between hers. His shoulder was twisting painfully. She pinned his head to the pillow and healed his shoulder, but his cries did not diminish at all.

"Ollie!" he yelled. "Ollie, please! Stop! I'm sorry! Stop! Pl-le-lease!" he wept.

Tears mingled with his sweat. She grinded her forehead against his and squeezed her eyes shut.

* * *

_She was lying on a street, her head throbbing and her body too sore for her to think. Claws were piercing her brain and her bones were bending like twigs. Her throat was as hard as a log._

_Something was lying on top of her. Something big, something heavy-_

"_How could you do it, Roy?" a grown man screeched. A fist slammed against her cheek, forcing her head to the side. Her cheekbone began throbbing. "Damn it, Roy, you're a hero! You could've been arrested, killed-"_

"_Ollie, stop it!"_

_Through her foggy eyes, Rae could make out a muscular blond man with a blond beard in green. The glare in his eyes was so terrifying she looked away. Behind his right shoulder was another man in green with brown hair…_

"_Stay out of this, Hal! He's a druggie! He's killing himself!"_

_The other man tried to pull him off. "How is this going to help him?" he yelled in his ear. Ollie threw him off his shoulder and he collapsed in a heap._

_Ollie bashed his fist against her head, knocking her out…_

_She found herself in the arms of the second man in green, a mask hiding his face. She felt nauseated, exhausted, and terrified. He did not look at her-instead, he continued on solemnly._

"_Hal…" she moaned._

"_Shush, boy," he said gruffly._

"_Where are we going?"_

"_I'm taking you to Dinah's," he said. "We are going to help you with your addiction."_

_She swallowed and closed her dry eyes. Her face was swelling and she felt toxic everywhere._

_Sometime later, she felt his arms shift and he set her on her feet, but he wrapped an arm under hers. Hal knocked on the door and a light flicked on. Rae watched in fatigue as the door opened and a startled attractive lady with black hair and yellow evening dress opened the door. Behind her was a poster of a woman in a blond wig wearing a black bustier, black leather jacket, and fishnet stockings. "Green Lantern…and…Speedy!" she gasped._

_Rae vaguely listened as Hal mentioned a few things with Dinah and felt her head explode into a migraine. Hal nudged her and she guiltily looked up at Dinah. "Lady…Prepare to hear a sob story."

* * *

_

Rae pulled her head away and gasped as if she held her breath for twenty minutes. She was unaware that she was sweating and that her hands were on his legs. Oh my Lord…that was horrible! Why would his mentor do that to him?

Then she realized that he was already an addict by then, and Ollie had caught him. That still did not stop his habit.

Would Steve have done that to BB in any case? She doubted it, he was a minor, but Steve was not a nice person-did BB even considered him a father figure? It was likely-because his parents died before he met the Patrol, he looked at Rita as a mother figure and she and Steve were married before he even joined, and he was the leader-but Rob was leader and he would not receive any praise for is 'parental' guidance. Then again, Cliff and Larry would've been like BB's uncles-but was that a reason to look up to a 'bully' as a dad?

Cy didn't have a mentor, but would his father have done that? He didn't like his son's athletic abilities-he wanted him to be a scientist like his parents. Even if he disapproved, then why would he bother to save his son's life-was it just parental love or to use him as an example of his technologies?

As for Dick, he and Bruce would just argue about his independence and being complete loners.

Then she remembered that Garth grew up a 'sidekick' as well. Sure, his mentor wasn't one who paid attention to his admirers when it came to love, but he probably wasn't as brash as Steve. Would the waterman ever go that far to beating his adoptive son to death? Perhaps not-he worked with Ollie, however, so that would've occurred.

She sighed to herself and silently wished she had a mentor, not some lady who told her to keep to herself forever and never laugh or be happy.

* * *

The inspiration for the opening scene was from _The Godfather part II. _I move them around because it's supposed to mean moving on and starting fresh.

And yes, I brought GA here in…yeah, not much of a positive way. That's the first time I brought him in here, and through his years in the comics it was evident that he was never built to be a father to anybody (even to his own son Conner). However, I may bring another memory of him in, with what Speedy may have considered a more positive image of his mentor. Once again, Lantern is more of an ideal father figure, but I just know he was much nicer to Roy-I still smile when I see it was him who welcomed Roy to the League and hugged him in the new League series.

By the way! Most of these were taken from Ollie and Dinah's bio page on the Titan's website. Otherwise, I recreated most of the events.

And again, please review and let me know of any issues or stiff moments.


	10. Chapter 10

So this is his personal counseling. I want to thank JinkPrincess13 and crazy nerd.

One question I also want to ask-do you guys like it better if an author warns of a lemon in a story later on or do you like it better when they wait until they post up a lemon to reveal they included a scene of intercourse? Thanks.

* * *

Roy moaned and stirred while a light feeling of heat beamed at his face. He yawned and closed his eyes again, trying to fall back asleep.

A soft hand stroked the side of his neck and the heat vanished in a swish. "Roy? Are you awake?"

He moaned in response.

Rae laughed gently and tousled his hair. "All right, I'll let you sleep for a few more minutes. You have to wake up, refresh your muscles, and take a bath or else you'll smell like BO for the rest of your life."

Roy chuckled and rubbed his eyes. "Did you…go into my…memories?"

Her fingers gave more gentle strokes. "Yes," she said. "I would like to talk about it when you get up."

She leaned down and kissed his arm, sending a lightning bolt down his blood. "But first, you can sleep in."

He gave her a grateful look. "Thank you."

* * *

She helped him stumble to the bathroom, where she filled the tub with warm water and set out towels and soap. He stripped his jersey off and waited until she left to continue. He slid in, washed himself, lathered a generous palm-sized swirl of shampoo in his hair, and sat fetus-position on the bottom of the tub considering his 'therapy' with Rae and how he would bring himself to open up until the water grew cold.

_Would this be a good idea? _Roy asked himself. _Could I really trust her with some of my personal life chapters? I have been marked since I was a boy, but didn't someone say she was destined to do something as soon as she was born? How much of me has she seen already?_

He shrugged and stood up to dry off.

* * *

Rae was sitting at the table with a cup of tea at her side and a book lying across from her. She tried reading it, but couldn't make herself. It was two days after his outburst, since then he had been shaking and thrusting his head and jerking around. At this time, she also saw another memory of his. She rubbed the back of her neck while she recalled that event mentally.

_She was in a feely setting-one of those where you were hot and cold at the same time. She looked down at herself and saw only a loincloth wrapped around her hips, the mud squishing between her bare toes. When her face twitched, she could feel something dry on her skin, as if someone had painted marks on her forehead and below her eyes. A beaded necklace was hanging from her breastbone and the wind on her back sent a chill down her arms._

_Behind her, two men were talking. She could not hear them clearly, but she knew they were talking about her. Her heart thumped in her ears as her hair brushed against the back of her neck._

_She turned around and focused her eyes on a man in jeans, open shirt, and beaded necklaces, with a clothed head-rope or something. As soon as he saw her, he lifted a hand._

"_He is right," the man said in a loud, Indian voice. "You are _bela gona-_the white man. And you must leave _nat-sees-an._"_

_She stared at him with dread, knowing he was likely to say something she prayed she'd never hear. _

"_We will find a proper guardian for you," he continued. "I have in mind a man who can continue to develop your talents." At that point he could see the look on her face. "You feel betrayed now," he spoke her mind for her. "You will miss your life here."_

_Tears welled up in her eyes. She tried not to blink, but the fire was too harsh on her face. Slowly she arched her head to the flames, fighting to ignore him, though she tightened her lips to keep a straight face. "Someday you may wonder if I sent you away because of something in your blood, the color of your skin. And, child, the truth is yes…and no. I send you away because your path leads elsewhere."_

_She turned her back to him so he could not see her trying not to cry._

That memory was perhaps the most personal to her. It ran like an ice cube along the inner surface of her chest. Never before has she felt that related to somebody else like that.

She was preparing to talk to him, but what would happen after it? Would their relationship be stronger and more stable…or would she dread visits with the TE?

She suddenly swallowed at a sudden thought. What if, after rehab, he decided he didn't want to work with them anymore and moved somewhere else and found a new job? Rae sighed and looked around. Even if he came out strong, she was not going to let the entire generation of heroes be fragile just from being one member short. Lots of people who find a new 'life' after some catastrophe decide to come clean and start over on life-but that wouldn't help his addiction in any way either. She rubbed her eyes and walked to the bathroom.

"Roy," she knocked, "are you all right?"

"Yes," he said. "I'm just drying myself off."

"Okay," she blushed. "We need to talk."

She left a pile of clothes out of the bathroom door and walked downstairs for a cup of tea and an orange. When he yelled out "I'm done," she walked upstairs, scooped him up on her back, and floated down the steps. He settled himself and his head comfortably on the couch while she handed him a glass of water.

"Okay," she said. "First, how did you sleep?"

He grinned in a grim matter slowly. "Not well," he said dully. "I had…a nightmare…"

"Hallucination," she corrected.

Roy blinked. "What?"

She put her hand on his knee. "I went into your mind…I saw Ollie on top of you, beating your face and yelling at you." She thought about mentioning Hal, but realized he should explain the cause before his first attempt at quitting his habit.

He shook his head and looked past her ear. "He…he caught me. Yes…he did. It was frightening enough to make me stop-he was trying to make me quit."

"Even so, Roy, why did you continue?" She shifted her leg and gave him a pleading look. "You knew, and know, it is wrong, against the law, and-"

Roy looked down so she wouldn't see him struggling not to cry. His fingers flexed around his water glass and he shut his eyes closed. "B-be-because," he choked, "I know it's wrong as it always has been, but I found comfort in the bad side. It made me feel alive…away from…"

Rae nodded, her chest feeling hollow. "I know about Donna."

Roy sighed. "She was my first love," he said. "We worked together after Ollie and his…team…were brainwashed to commit crimes. It was the work of some alien who fed on their crimes. She ended our relationship…because she said she wanted to move on…"

"And you didn't," Rae finished.

Roy shook his head and set his glass on the counter. "Later, I found out that she heard of a vision saying that if she married a redhead, he would die, but she didn't know the victim was the redhead she eventually married. She told me at the funeral. I have never been affected like that because rarely did anyone lie to me…and the lie ate me alive. I even planned to propose to her at that time." He sniffed and squeezed his eyes shut. She continued watching him until he looked down at his hands.

"Shortly after that, Ollie began ignoring me because his fortune went away, and he became preoccupied with his team…and his women. I felt like I had no one who loved me. Donna was out, and Ollie ignored me like a puddle, and the Navajo tribe I grew up on thought I was better off without them because of my skin and 'different path' bullshit. I felt like I had no one who loved me or cared about me. So I found a heroin den…" he tugged on a flake of skin from his lower lip "and I decided…to give it…a shot."

He swallowed. "As I said, it made me feel alive. It was a sub for companionship. Then apparently Ollie tracked down the dealer…and he found me…ready to drug myself. I lied to him that I was going to bust the drug ring to hide my addiction. Ollie found out the truth and hit me on the streets. His girlfriend Dinah-Black Canary, you know her? She works with the Justice League, I think they're married now-and Hal hid me and helped me recover from withdraw, but even that didn't fully stop me. Then Ollie and I fought and I ran away to continue fighting alone and I did, occasionally…injecting it. I haven't spoken to him or Dinah or Hal or the League ever since."

The half-breed gripped his shoulder.

"Then came the Tournament, and after Dick, whom I thought was awesome because of his skills and outstanding leadership abilities, gave me a communicator, I stopped using heroin for about a year. Then I joined the East Team, and here's the thing-I wasn't used to working on a team. I was used to working alone, or with a professional. It just…stresses you out, makes you act stupid. I barely knew Karen, and she-all she did was yell, tell me to stop combing my hair, start fixing the house, be nice to the twins…I just had a rough start with her. It's like every time I tried to speak to her a hurricane would form.

"So…I found heroin again in a private drug street after I stormed out of the tower because Karen and I had a massive screaming scene, and used it like twice a month. I would casually agree to go shopping, and would lie that there was too much traffic, people would be fighting, and the employees would get distracted. If I stayed overnight, I would tell her I would be on night patrol looking for street crimes, and if she found one, I would say I wasn't there when it happened. Then…the Brotherhood knocked in, and-"

He slapped his hands against his face. "Oh my God!" he cried shakily. This was too devastating for him, unlocking his private door, explaining the most horrifying moments in his life…he was so shaken up he didn't care if he wept.

The girl wrapped her arms around him and laid his head on her chest, sobbing and shaking. He pulled away, his eyes watering and bloodshot. "I am SICK of being 'Robin's clone!' I was tired of being 'second fiddle.' I am TIRED of falling! But I can't escape…"

She closed her eyes and hid her nose in his oily, damp hair, pulling her back to him. "It's all right, Roy," she whispered, "let it all out." She ran her hand down his back and rubbed his spine in small circles.

He lost his father at a young age. He was left out of his childhood home because of his 'different path' explanation. His first girlfriend mistook him as the victim of a prophecy. His father figure beat him. He is labeled as a 'clone' and once a hero wannabe. He was forced to adapt to working on a team and failed his first major mission. He fell to a society of crime committers…twice, and would never be able to reinvent the past. All he ever wanted was to be respected for his bravery and independence-but he had no powers. All he had was arrows and a bow.

Every member in the whole entire team had suffered serious problems like that. What confused her was why instead of like the others, he would not push his painful past behind, move on, and focus on making the world more peaceful and crime-free. Even BB knew better-but Roy choosing drugs was not an escape. He needed help. He needed to understand why he knew heroin was not useful but harmful yet he continued using it when it jeopardized his entire team, who suffered circumstances similar to his.

Was it because he felt like an outsider his whole life? He was the only 'white boy' in the reservation and likely didn't have as many friends. His 'adoptive father' was not a nice person and likely neglected him before he even found the ring. He may have felt like a loner if he barely had any team experience.

Somehow during the 'dream intervention,' he fell asleep on her shoulder before she saw it. She sighed to herself but fell back and allowed his head to rest on her chest. He grunted and fell back asleep. She snaked her hand through his still-sweaty-and-oily bangs and hummed softly.

"Poor baby," she mumbled. She focused on his naked eyes and closed her purple eyes. If he wanted to break from the protection bubble that threw him back into the pit or kept happy moments from him and fed him horrifying memories, she was going to help pull him out of it.

She knew it would be a long journey…but she was willing to do it.

* * *

The whole 'team experience thing' came from the original comics, where he was hesitant to be part of the team because he wasn't used to how a team works. Also I came up with the idea that he resumed injecting heroin because in the comics he recovered thanks to Dinah and Hal, but fell back to heroin addiction and became psychotic, even fighting with Dick, after his daughter died in "Cry for Justice," (in my opinion one of the most idiotic deaths in the history of comic books) so Dinah tried to help him overcome again. Unfortunately, he never recovered.

Donna (the original Wonder Girl) rejected him because of a prophecy the psychic Lilith held, but I don't know if Donna actually lied to him, so I added it because it seemed like a simple attempt to avoid offending him. I didn't mention Lilith because the producers said her powers were too close to Rae's and avoided using her, so I didn't know how to portray her.

Now that Roy's origin has been revealed, should I make him see Rae's at her insistence? The way it would go would be that her mother would have shown her memories of her childhood and Rae would show them to him. What do you think? Also, will you let me know whether you read this on the weekends or weekdays please? That way I'll know when to update.

Oh, and I don't mention his eye color because I have no clue what color his eyes are-blue or green. Or do the comic colors vary?


	11. Chapter 11

I'm back again and want to thank crazynerd, JoanneLikesVolleyball, and JinxPrincess13 for the reviews. Thanks and continue please.

* * *

Roy woke up the next morning on the couch feeling lighter and somewhat refreshed. He sat up, stretched his legs, and flopped back down like a pile of pasta. His spine opened and released particles of energy and refreshment.

He and Rae discussed his background last night, he knew, and it felt good to pull it off his chest. At last, somebody listened. Somebody cared, took the time to hear his woes, talk him through it…give him care and sympathy.

Young Harper didn't walk around searching for sympathy-he wanted somebody to care and listen. Dinah was in love with Ollie at that time and did work her time to listen, and then he threw her care away, falling right back to the needle. Such an idiotic mistake! Along came Rae, who (aside from having fallen asleep on the floor beside him) lived on the other side of the country and continued to volunteer to help him recover-now was the time to start afresh.

When he first stumbled into the drug ring, he never feared Ollie would find out, but after he did, he continued thinking he and Ollie would never see each other again. Even still, when he agreed to fall back into the drug business, he never even thought twice of Beecher becoming Ollie…

People looked at him as the 'kid with the toy arrows that are light and can burn or freeze'-he knew it was time to outgrow it, and he needed to stand up and independently.

He knew he should start now.

* * *

A week later, she held the millionth water glass for him as he laid his head on her lap. She gently nudged him and he sat up leaning his head against her shoulder while she held the glass to his lips. He drank like a calf suckling on his mother. Although he was fading from withdrawal, he was still weak and exhausted. She stroked his forehead and felt his body temperature cooling down. Smiling to herself, she cast him to sleep while she read for an hour. Aside from his delirium, he was still vomiting, so she moved a garbage can with fresh bags next to him. For half an hour each day, she laid him on the tub with cool water and would wait out the door until he called for her. He still broke out in the night screaming, so she would calm him with her powers and talk to him soothingly. Eventually, and finally, his fever faded away.

One day she woke up and saw him holding his leg grinding in pain. She held his toning leg on her lap, ceased the cramping, and stroked his arm. "This is going to continue for a few more days," she said.

He moaned and sat up, leaning back against several pillows. "I thought the toxins were supposed to have been washed out of my body," he moaned through his teeth.

"I believe they are," she said. "That's the reason for your outbursts and sleepless nights and vomiting. However, you have been using it for several years, so your body needs to get used to the lack of toxins, which is going to be rough considering your body has grown used to it."

He huffed and tried stretching his back, only to collapse in exhaustion. His eyes were defeated and a dull color. She watched this and began massaging his defeated shoulders. He moaned in pleasure and arched his shoulder.

"You need to grow strong again," she said. "Your muscles have grown weak and you need to take better care of you systems and body. Otherwise, your systems will be too weak to fight anything else, and that may kill you."

He moaned and winced in pain. "How?" he asked. "I don't want to drink protein powder every meal every day…"

She smiled and shook her head. "I was thinking of hiring a trainer for you," she said, "to motivate you to lift weights and work your way up as you gain muscle. And spend the mornings walking. But yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Roy moaned. "I'm not really a good runner-but you're so stubborn so it's the only thing to do to keep my sorry head."

Rae laughed. "I meant walking. You should help regain muscle in your legs, but running is out of the question. So come on, we need to look for walking shoes for you."

* * *

The weeks in Florida were the best days she ever recalled. Every day, either morning or night, they walked across the shore on the beach or around the boardwalk (it took her a while to convince herself to accept a tan and allow him to ogle at bikini girls while he stopped to stretch his legs), sipped nutrition shakes with muscle builder, and she gave him every edible food item that required heat. Though he was still weak and often had to cancel an exercise date, he was eager to regain his health and spend more time with a friend who lived on the other side of the country. As a result, he barely became sick, and his color was starting to grow tanner and healthier. This felt better than making fun of Fish-Brain with the twins or hanging the twins' underwear up the flagpole.

After a few days, however, as she meditated, walked with him, and shared oranges from the market, she began to think. Sometimes she would stop walking and tread along the shore or flop back on her bed and think. This was starting to feel weird for her-sometimes she accidentally complained out loud if he had to use the restroom and when she showered.

Even after his dream therapy, their relationship still grew. They continued walking, talking, and began exploring more of Florida. Rae said it was to get him settled and relaxed before the therapists began asking him about Ollie's attack on him. In truth, she was not ready yet for him to go to rehab. She was too afraid to ask her clones for fear of hearing something she would never hear. Unfortunately, she had to rethink of that plan.

One night was different. They had gone for a trip to the beach before dinner simply because she wanted to think but because she had too much energy to consider it. As they walked back to their abandoned hut, she allowed him to wrap his arm around her shoulders and she snaked her arm around his waist.

"We still have to find a new rehab for you," she said. "They won't let you back on the team until you find treatment."

He sighed and twirled his fingers around her hair.

They walked a few more meters when he paused.

"Roy, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Shush," he whispered holding a finger to her lips and listening closely. Her face flushed redder than her father's skin.

"Roy!" she yelled as he ran away from her. Suddenly she slipped on a mud puddle and fell on her back with a thud. The boy ignored her and stopped two miles away at an alley to catch his breath. He looked up and gasped.

Two pale muscular perhaps pedophiles were kneeling on the ground, one pinning a young boy by his throat to the ground with both hands. The other one held down another little boy and a girl. Each small round face was shining and fearful.

"No, no! Please don't!"

The first thug with a buzz cut shoved a brick into the boy's mouth. "Be quiet, boy," he hissed. After all, we don't let our little slaves beg to be freed."

The girl screamed and began kicking her legs.

"Jen, don't-"

The second man, who had spiky black hair, shoved a knee into the second boy's abdomen. He whimpered, silently crying. "Now, be good little children and stay here while we prepare you for the trip of a lifetime."

"You'll have to hurt me before you can hurt their innocence."

The men looked up from the children and saw nothing.

Then Jen screamed a blood-curling cry.

A shadowy figure jumped from the room above them and landed on top of Buzz-Cut. The man roared and shook wildly.

"What the-"

Spikes let go of Jen and her cousin and attempted to pull Roy off his fellow partner. "Get off of him!" he yelled grabbing Roy's arms.

Roy slammed his foot against Spikes in the face and began choking Buzz-Cut. "You like hurting little innocent children, don't you, eh?" he screamed before biting Buzz-Cut in the cheek. Buzz-Cut roared and spun around, Roy holding on to him and squeezing his eyes shut, having forgotten all about his fever and recovery. He kicked Buzz-Cut in the back and legs while he punched him against the face. Finally, Spikes slammed a powerful fist against Roy's left arm and he slid off the back of Buzz-Cut, howling and clutching his arm. He looked up at Spikes holding a brick over his head and rolled away from an approaching Buzz-Cut.

He sent a roundhouse kick against both men, causing both of them to fall facedown. Then he grabbed a brick and slammed it against the back of each head.

* * *

Rae forgot how to fly for an instant and tried to reach Roy on foot. She was several feet from where he disappeared when she saw three crying children running in her direction.

"What happened?" she asked as they ran right into her.

Jen forgot all about the 'don't talk to strangers' rule and shoved her head against her chest. "M-m-m-my brother-"

She screamed and the two little boys cried harder. She heard the whole story only after twelve minutes. Rae asked the kids to hold on to her as she ran to the scene.

Roy was leaning against the brick wall, his face shiny with perspiration and his back sore. The pimps still lay unconscious. His arm was screaming like a banshee.

"Roy?"

He looked up and saw her and the children, eyes fearful. He stumbled and fell into her arms.

She scooped Roy up in her arms while she watched the children walk home. Jen and her brother Atticus offered her to explain the story but she said the young man had to go home. Nevertheless, their cousin Leo gave him a small pocket watch that belonged to their family since the Civil War.

_Great, now I have to start the process all over again,_ she growled mentally. She laid him down on the bed, ripped his jersey off and sponged his back and face all over again.

* * *

This was actually a sort-of result of withdraw and drug abuse-it's easier to break bones when the body is weaker. So yeah, I could've done a better job at the horrors of child-prostitution.


	12. Chapter 12

Where we left off-Roy saved a bunch of children from being abducted but broke his arm in the process.

He woke up howling in pain and clutching his left arm. "Ouch! My arm!" he shrieked.

A pale hand rested in his arm and healed it. "Ugh! What happened?"

"Broken bicep," Rae said walking away and sitting at his feet. He looked down at his arm and saw a handmade cast reaching past his elbow. "Your body's still under withdraw and restarted from that drug tramp and that fight with-"

"The kids!" he yelled suddenly sitting up-and falling back down clutching his flaming ribs and core. "Rae, what happened to them?"

"They're safe," she said. "You saved them, and I escorted them home."

He moaned a painful smile. "They're…"

She nodded. "Congratulations. You survived your first independent mission."

His face was truly elated.

"The problem is, however, that you have to stay in bed for a few."

"What?" he barked.

"You can't walk," she said shaking her head. "We'll have to postpone your rehab trial. It's my fault. I shouldn't have allowed that visit-"

"Rae, don't," he interrupted grabbing her hand. "It was nice-I really enjoyed that. It was me who was stupid enough to risk my own health. I guess I didn't fully recover."

She gave him a shameful look. "Neither did I, but thank you," she whispered. He smiled and looked at her twitching fingers.

"So…what are we going to do when I can't walk?" He looked around. "I don't think we have board games and…I won't be able to concentrate on books or TV or anything…"

"All I can say is that it will be boring but worth it," she said. "You need to sleep more than you stay awake. Although you have been getting better, you are going to restart your recovery, because your arm is fragile and you have damaged yourself again. In the meantime, you'll have to continue eating non-chewable food."

"Does that mean applesauce all day?"

One of the things about him that she could not drag herself away from was his hair. As stupid as it was to admit it, she was drawn to it. Every time he discussed memories, she would stroke his carrot-colored hair and rub his scalp.

"Hey, Rae," he said as soon as he was done talking about how he feared he didn't impress Ollie when he first met him (he said he was a good archer, but he failed to make a bull's eye during an archery contest that Ollie himself hosted), "can you, uh, rub a little on the left?"

She gave him a blank look.

"Sorry, it's just…I like it when you play with my hair. It helps me…clear…my mind…" he shrugged his bare shoulders.

Rae was confused at his hesitation, but she nodded and did so. "You have nice hair," she said as she snaked her fingers through the side of his hair.

He chuckled and twirled the thermometer in his mouth. "You know, when I first worked with Ollie, I wore a hat with a feather sticking out."

"Oh really?" she asked stilling the thermo. "Why?"

He shrugged. "When Ollie decided to make an undercover profession, he made a Robin Hood-based costume that he wore to a masquerade party. I admired that and he told me to do the same so people would know I worked with him."

"I bet you were cute," she grinned picturing him in a Robin Hood hat along with his uniform.

There was an awkward silence then. She stopped rubbing his scalp and he barely flinched. The silence ended after he began whining of a twisted arm in the sore spot and she healed it. She touched his cheek and felt him flaming up again.

"Your fever," she whispered, somewhat lying. "It's growing worse."

He hissed and panted at his slowly healing arm.

"You have to stay in bed," she said. "I'm sorry. I should have never slipped on that puddle to catch up with you." He chuckled and shrugged. "No big deal," he said. "I forgive you."

She adjusted the thermometer in his mouth and saw his temperature to be higher than 110. "Okay, I need you to take your…pants…off."

She whipped out running shorts and mentally carried a fan over. He replaced his wet pants as she plugged the fan in and set it on medium. "You should sleep if you can. I'm sorry, Roy. This is for your own good."

He shook his head and held out his hand. "Please…stay with…me."

For the hundredth time that month, his head was on her lap as she wiped his forehead, but something was different. Every time she held him in her hands she was eager to touch him, spend her day with him-she wanted everything to do with him.

She asked Intelligence and the answer was simple-she had fallen in love with young Harper.

_I can't do this, _she wept to herself. _I can't afford to risk myself in love again-I cannot let go of what happened with…him, and I don't want to be another Donna. I don't want to be a source of pain ever again. Dear God, what should I do?_

He moaned in pain as his arm and hip began erupting in pain again. She healed it quickly and shifted to lie beside him.

"I hope you get better soon," she whispered. "I really want to get to know you better."

She rubbed her cheek against his and felt his stubble scratch her face. "You need to shave," she whispered in his ear giggling.

As if he heard her, he inched his way closer to her and she could smell the sweat in his hair. She wrapped her arm around his neck and smoothed his nape.

Two days later it began to rain. Three days without sunlight did weird things to his brain, so she kept the lights on, the room sunny, and what else. After admitting to herself her love for him, she waited for signs he was interested, too-the worst thing that could happen if there's an unrequited love is if it hits someone who has been betrayed twice.

It all began the second rain day.

He rolled over to his side and saw her lying on her stomach typing on a laptop with Cy's armor pattern surrounding the screen. She would stop every once in a while, pick at her nails, and resume moving her finger down the mouse slide. He would watch her roll onto her back, stretch her arms above her head (he would hide his eyes under his arm to watch her arching chest) and roll back. He also noticed that she rubbed the back of her neck at every roll.

"Is your neck sore?" he asked.

She shrugged and arched her back. He could faintly hear cracks and moans. "Here," he said sliding off the couch, "let me help."

"What?" she asked turning around, but he asked her to turn back around. She gave him a weird look and trembled when he sat on her lower back. She opened her mouth to protest-no sense pushing him down the hole to pain-but relaxed when she felt his hands on both sides of her back.

"Lie down," he whispered pressing down on her upper spine. She slowly obeyed and folded her hands under her chin. He pressed down on her back like a chiropractor and began rubbing the muscles surrounding her shoulder blades. She stiffened under his intimate touch, but closed her eyes and shifted her left shoulder.

"I didn't know you were a massage therapist," she whispered as he softened her neck.

"Neither did I," he said. "I just found out."

The massage appointment continued for ten minutes, him enjoying her moans and her adoring his trickles down her spine and the shape of her shoulder blades.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Finding a rehab for you," she said. "I'm going to notify them when you're better and are ready to talk."

"In how many weeks?" he asked.

"Next," she said. "You're healing fast."

He smiled to himself and hissed as he pulled himself off of her.


	13. Chapter 13

Okay, yeah, I admit, it took me a long time to get the action going, but I was trying to create a few obstacles real addicts suffered, so I apologize.

Warning: this is the lemon chapter. However, it also has some good moments in between.

* * *

_The room was sweetly sickening. She looked up at the ceiling in pain. This did not happen. She never planned on it happening. It came anyway._

_His head was lying on her chest, his breathing shaking and struggling to slow down. She laced her fingers in his hair and massaged the side of his scalp. His bare back was stained with perspiration and nail marks she created when…when…_

_How did it start again?_

She found him on his bed with his hand pressed to his forehead, his shoulders shaking enough to tell her he was sobbing.

"What's wrong?" she asked cautiously outstretching her hand.

He sniffed and pulled on his hair. "I don't know," he wept. "I can't remember. I know it was something bad or something, but I can't remember. It was too foggy."

She sat beside him and took his hand. "Close your eyes," she whispered.

"You're going into my mind again?" he asked but not in an annoyed way.

"It's something I don't really want to do," she said, "but I have to."

He inspected the side of her face and frowned. "Rae, why do you do these things to me?"

Her eyes tightened and her face shook. "B-b-be-cause I care for you and think of you and you're my friend and-"

But she never finished her sentence because she felt his lips silence hers and she flung her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder, him sucking on her lips like a ripe, juicy fruit. His hand traced her smooth back and she sank her fingertips into his neck, sobbing muffled yelps, her legs giving up under her. He slowly stroked her inner thigh and kissed her bare shoulder. They continued kissing until he pulled her shirt over her head and slid his lips down to her bra hook. She ripped his jersey off and could sense him unfastening her belt.

Two minutes later, she lied back on the bed naked as the day she was born, watching in love and terror and he, also completely nude except for his cast, crouched down on top of her, her breasts pushed painfully against his chest, their lower hairs knotting together. He stared into her rare eye color and kissed her softly, his hands roaming over her toned abdomen and base of her breasts, knowing their next sins would make Cy blow his head off with his cannon and Dick beat his organs out. She massaged his head as he separated her legs and hooked them around his waist. "Wait…I'm not wearing protect-"

She interrupted him with a smile. "It's okay," she whispered. "I'm half-demon. I can't have children…" she added sadly.

He kissed between her breasts and moved to her lips while his fingers twirled with her hair and she ruffled his spikes and traced his back.

* * *

The sunlight beamed at his face, arm and comforting, telling him to wake up and start a new day. He moaned under the purple silk sheets and flexed his tense legs. He slowly leaned up and rubbed his eyes.

She was lying peacefully at his side, the blanket draped over her chest and hiding her body from his view. Her eyes were closed and her head nestled in the crook of his arm, her hair tickling his underarm.

He leaned back and stroked her soft arm gracefully. She sighed gently and flexed her arms, then fell back asleep.

His fingers absorbed the silky feeling and her gentle breathing. He knew he had to stand up, change, and head back to rehab…but he couldn't. It was too peaceful and beautiful. She was too beautiful when she slept, too beautiful to wake up. If he had a camera with him, he could take her picture and save it for a rainy day or rehab.

Smiling he slid his bare foot against her instep with ease and love. His sleeping beauty did not move even a tiny bit. He smiled at her and leaned back into a deep sleep.

* * *

The bus stop was better than the one in Jump-or at least in Roy's opinion. The sun warmed the top of his head, seagulls swooped down to catch their breakfast of fish, and the waves rolled out a calming rhythm.

He kissed her at the bus stop, his hands gripping her shoulder blades and sinking into her lower back. She pressed down on his head and neck, grinding her knees to his thighs.

The bus arrived and the doors opened. She reluctantly pulled away, but kept her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "I love you," she whispered.

He kissed her eyelid. "I love you, too," he whispered. He pulled away from her grip reluctantly and climbed up the steps. She watched him walk to the back of the bus.

Several weeks came back to her and she ran into the street chasing the bus until it turned the corner.

He gasped and realized he had suffered a premonition before.

He sunk in his seat and smiled the whole trip. Love…he went through it before. He laughed, he cried, he smiled, he suffered…

This love was probably the best of all.

* * *

Rae flung onto her still-unmade bed and tried not to look at his. Doing so would make her sad and miss him. She rolled to her side and sighed. Ever since she saw his memories, she felt she should be more social, more outgoing. She should start with those who encouraged her to be more open.

She smiled to herself and disappeared.

* * *

She snuck into the house and walked up to the main room. BB was in the kitchen, pulling out strawberries, soy ice cream, hot fudge, and nuts. He did not seem to know she was there. He began scooping ice cream into the bowl when she walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

He froze at the unusual touch, and then sighed to himself. "Hey, girl," he said drunk.

"I missed you, baby brother," she mumbled before letting go and walking out the door.

He just stood there, slid the ice cream back into the freezer, and hopped onto the couch, embracing himself.

Dick was sitting on his bed studying articles about a recent crime wave in Kansas that killed two people from the city. He was unaware of her return until the door opened and she walked in.

He looked up in time to see her sit beside him and hug him from behind. "Um, hey, Rae," he said grinning sheepishly. "What are you doing back here?"

She pulled away and smiled. "Roy's in rehab," she said. "I decided to stop by and say hi." She smiled and walked out of his room.

He watched her with narrow eyes, wondering what bit her recently in her time with-

_Ooh! They did something together!_

Star was in her room pulling out various types of clothing out of her closet and onto her bed, trying to think of various ways to put them together. She considered a winter scarf used as a belt when she saw someone on her bed.

"Oh, this looks nice," she said inspecting leopard flats paired with skinny jeans and a chained belt.

"What are you doing here early?" she asked. "I thought his trial was not yet finished."

Rae smiled. "He's in rehab right now, so I decided to visit," she explained wrapping her arms around her sister.

Star stiffened remembering her disliked hugs, but smiled and embraced her gently.

They sat that way until the little larvae crawled in somehow sucking on a pacifier.

Cy was in the garage, cleaning his car and wiping up oil spills. _Gosh, this job is so lonely and boring without my little sister,_ he thought to himself as he began polishing several tools off.

She snuck up behind him and hopped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He yelped and swung her over his head. "Rae! I was just thinking about you!"

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I missed you," she whispered.

He looked down at her head. "Um…is he-"

"I decided to visit," she interrupted.

Missing his 'little sister' he scooped her up in his arms and swung her around.

* * *

Roy stepped off the bus, feeling as if a huge wave had rolled off his shoulders. He met with a female counselor who reminded him of his girl. She first asked him about his life, his friends, and his other interests (she even allowed him ten minutes to recount a few pranks he played on Garth and the twins and how they'd get him back) before talking about Ollie and his life with him.

He did not think back about his therapy, though, for his goddess was already at the stop waiting for him. He stepped off, swung her around, and kissed her in broad daylight.

* * *

It was another day after that. She sat on the front porch holding a book in her hands until it was time to get him.

Then the book was ripped away from her hands and she was smothered into a kiss before she could even look up.

"Roy!" she gasped at the sudden act. "Why aren't you in rehab?"

He smiled and held up a sheet of paper. "Some stupid-head pulled a false fire alarm that shook the whole thing down, we had to cancel, though we are continuing tomorrow."

She lifted her eyebrows, then shrugged and returned his kisses. His hand slid up her side and she realized he was trying to grab her breast. She teleported them inside where he kneed her chest and ran his lips down her throat to between her breasts.

It two seconds for his shirt to come off and she slowly ran her hands up his recently rebuilt back and traced his spine. Her fingers gripped the back of his hair while her other hand rubbed his neck and shoulders. He slid her belt down her legs and pulled her shirt up to her chin. She pulled her hands away from him to remove her shirt and sweatpants, leaving her in dark undergarments. He drank it all in before she stripped him down to his shorts.

He managed to carry her to bed while they were making out and stripping each other, their clothing littering the floors and bed sheets. Her foot became tangled with the sheets, but he pulled her leg out and tried to kiss her inner skin. She shook her head no and pulled him down to her face, which he took over like a dictator.

Although she suddenly became used to it, she nearly cried in pain as he thrust himself into her, sinking her teeth into his shoulder and gripping his sweating back. He paused, sat up with her in his lap, rubbed her back, and nuzzled her neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "What did I do wrong?"

"N-nothing," she whispered. "I…I just…sorry, I have never been this close with a man before-"

"Hush," he soothed her gently while pulling himself out and laying her gently back on the bed. "I love you. I don't want to hurt you."

She pulled the blanket to her chin and sat up, watching him lie down on his back, the sheets pooled around his waist, arms crossed over his naked chest. He rubbed his eye and the side of his face before looking at the outline of his feet. "Please…" he said, "who hurt you like this before?"

She didn't answer. He didn't say anything. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wanted to just thank you for saving my life."

She held her cool arms and gave him a soft smile. "I'm going to make tea," she said. "Do you want a cup?"

"All right," he whispered. He watched her detach the blanket from herself, her smooth, slim back, and firm lower body as she pulled out a silk bathrobe as dark as her eyes, slid it on, and walked out the door.

Twenty minutes passed before he pulled out of bed, walked down the steps, and saw her lean against the sink, head bowed, the kettle off and no teacups around. He slowly walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

She looked over his hand and bit her lip. "Roy…" she whispered, "you're still…"

He pressed his fingertips to her lips. "I hurt you, didn't I?"

She stiffened her lips before shaking her head. "No," she whispered. "I don't want to talk about it."

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, burying his nose into the back of her hair. "Want to come back to bed?"

* * *

About two or three more chapters left, fellas. Sorry.


	14. Chapter 14

Okay, I have to admit that I like tis story but realized at the last minute that I always pushed the action back to later chapters, so forgive me. How about in the previous chapter I say "A hero's recovery...but a man's defeat...and the birth of a new life."

Okay after this, I might have one more chapter and an epilogue, just so you know.

* * *

After much counting, his trial had been finished. He walked out with several congratulations, a pat on the back, and handshakes. He came home with a packet and 'diploma' given sole to a Roy William Harper, Jr. ("William?" she asked. "Your middle name is William?" "Yes," he said, "you have a problem with that?" She laughed and hugged him) When he arrived home, she did her part with a kiss. He wrote to both sides saying he was better and ready to go back home. At first, they had to pack and clean up their messes before leaving.

They ended the evening with a late dinner at an expensive restaurant, followed by a late-sweet-treat trip, followed by lots…and lots…of sex.

Rae gasped the moment he rolled off her. Her entire body was sore, throbbing, and soaked. She tried to move her fingers but stared up at the ceiling instead. From the lights beaming at her from the windows, she knew it was like five.

Beside her, the man whom he gave up her virginity to was inspecting the ceiling as well before moving his eye to the side, noticing her rapid chest and soak-stained face. "That…was the best…moment we've ever had together," she whispered through fits of laughter.

He huffed and caressed her inner arm. "Jesus, I've never had a night like this," he whistled.

"I don't think I can move," she winced. "Can you take care of me until I can move independently?"

He laughed and rolled to his side, propping his head on his hand, and kissed her above her ear. She was able to stare at his toned, extremely handsome chest and felt her thighs shaking. "I'll tell you one thing, my girl-as soon as we get home, I don't want to stop. I don't care if Dick catches us, I don't care if they kick me out-I have never felt so much feeling for you in my life."

"So…we're making love just because you like it?"

He caught the betrayal in her voice and shook his head. "No," he whispered. "I would never hurt you. I would not make love to you if you did not want it. Besides, I meant I don't want to give up our love."

She turned her head and smiled. "I'd like to see Dick chase you around for having an affair with me. Because at the same time he's going out with someone else."

He laughed and kissed her on the lips. They continued making out until he placed a hand on her lips. "I just thought of something," he whispered. She paused and leaned back. "I…I want to go to court when we go back home."

She leaned closer to him. "What?"

He looked into her eyes before rolling onto his front and looking up at the ceiling. "I want to go back and be on witness," he said, "on the trial against Frank and Manny." He hissed and tried to stretch his back, but his legs pulled him down. He folded his arms under his chin and closed his eyes.

She lifted her eyebrow and rolled on top of him. "Isn't it too late?" she whispered as she sat on top of him and started to massage his back. He moaned when she rubbed under his shoulder blade and loosened a rough muscle. "Oh…higher, little more to the right…a little…more…" he moaned dreamily as she rubbed it in small circles. When he sighed in satisfaction, she rubbed the back of his neck with her other hand and repeated her question.

As he began to relax, he drank in the pleasures as she continued to rub his back and smirked to himself. "I don't think so."

After looking at Florida for hopefully not the last time, they went back to Jump and she mentally transported their bags into her room, not ready for her friends to smother him yet.

It turns out he was right. The trial was postponed a few weeks before due to a robbery on the courthouse. He came forward, stated where he was from, and served on the witness stand. To avoid much publicity, she watched from the window as he betrayed his old partners and swore that they would physically beat him constantly (he would hide it so Bee wouldn't notice). Eventually, they were convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.

He walked out, met her waiting for him outside, and ran into her arms, kissing her hard and strong.

The two of them walked around the streets, each holding a pint of vanilla-and-sprinkles ice cream and sharing bites every once in a while.

"So tell me, Roy, what inspired you to join the TE?" she asked as she spooned a large amount of his.

Roy shrugged as he spooned hers. "Well, I felt bad for Bee and Fish-Boy how they were fighting the Hive alone, so Fish-boy called because somehow they knew I was in town, and asked me if I would like to be a part of the team. I agreed and we designed a home similar to yours."

Rae licked her spoon clean. "And how did you meet the twins?"

Before he could answer, a horn honked and a black Portia drove up the curb. "Oh, crap," he muttered. "Rae, that's one of my old partners…"

"Come on, I'll teleport us"-

"No," he said. "It's too late."

The car stopped and the window rolled down. "Hello, Roy…"

"Hey, Antonio," Roy mumbled.

"Whatcha up to?" the guy smiled, showing rows of sickening yellow teeth. Rae grimaced and Roy swallowed.

"Oh, nothing, just taking a stroll," he said. "How did you know I was here _on the lower side of the country?"_

Another yellow-tooth looked out and pulled out a black device. "Hey, bro," he greeted. "We inserted a chip in your blood while you were sleeping at our house your first night. It works even out of state, so when we couldn't find you we used a little unused part of it to create shocks in your body that would help remind you of heroin so we could find more partnerships. It's something we received as a gift for our work, but we didn't like the body-pain-thing. We heard Manny and Frank were busted a few months ago. We came to defend them, but we weren't allowed in. Then we found out you were here but vanished, so we began work on this thing. Isn't that sad?"

Speedy visibly paled.

"Hey, who's that supermodel beside you?" Omar asked.

"This is my sister, Rae," he lied. "Rae, these are-"

"Hey, wait a minute," Omar interrupted. "I've seen her before here when I was doing business. Doesn't she live with those people in that…"

"Um, yeah," Speedy said. "We are actually headed home."

"Home?" Antonio asked. "Without a hit?"

"Yes," he said. "I quit."

Both mouths dropped.

"Come on, Rae," he said wrapping his arm around her, "let's go home…"

"Why would you quit, man?" Antonio asked.

Speedy finished his ice cream and stared at Rae's face. "Maybe I wanted to crush"-he crushed his container in his hand-"and throw away"-he threw it in a garbage can-"being a dirty druggie."

Rae smiled and threw away her empty pint. Slowly Omar and Antonio stepped out of the car and walked in front of him. The two watched, eyes widening. "Just one hit?"

Roy smiled. "No."

Omar responded by punching him in the mouth.

"Roy!" Rae yelled. Antonio grabbed her shoulders and pinned her against the wall. She kicked him in the knee and tried to mentally lift Omar off Roy. The former had sent a punch through his ribs and jumped on him so he was lying on the sidewalk. Blood ran from his nose like a waterfall and Omar was twisting his still-casted arm. "Roy, come on"-

Before she could move, Antonio jumped on her back and held a knife to her throat.

"Scream or run away and I'll kill you both," he hissed poisonously in her ear.

Rae sobbed as the sharp steel pressed against her throat threatening to steal her life and watched out of the corner of her eye as Omar slugged her love, creating pain in her left arm, and pulled a needle out of his pocket.

_She was sinking in some old, stuffed bed as filthy as a sewer and smelling just as foul. Her lungs were begging for oxygen and her muscles were trying to stay together. Her cold skin told her the only clothing she had on was a pair of briefs-no socks even-and her armbands were ripped off earlier._

_Something massive and incredibly heavy was on her lower back and two hands pushed down on her shoulder blades, her bones on the verge of breaking. The whole thing crushed against her back and she was lying flat on the bed._

"_Do it!" he screamed in her ear. "For God's sake, inject! Put it in, you little chicken! This is your business! You haven't been feeling it lately! Do as I say, Harper, or you lose your position!"_

_She shut her eyes shut. She was not here. She was at the tower, arguing with the prince about ordering seafood or pizza while the twins were burning macaroni and cheese and Bee tried to ignore all of them. She was not in a smelly heroin den with a dealer on her back and several needles in front of her-_

"_Do it or I'll take you in the ass!" he screamed._

_Her body screeching in pain, she reached forward, grabbed a needle, and shoved it into her wrist. _

"Say hello to an old friend, boy," he whispered.

And he shoved the needle right into the side of his neck.

_Roy!_ Rae cried mentally as his eyes turned and his mouth twisted. The pain throbbing in her neck, she closed her eyes crying to Rob. _Robin! Speedy is in danger! His old partner's shoving heroin into his neck! Grab the others! Help!_

That was the last thing she thought as the dealers jumped up and ran away. She reached toward him and grabbed his hand.

It was then that a blue-and-silver car drove up.

* * *

Cliffhanger-yes, I know.

Okay, maybe 1-2 more chapters and then an epilogue. Thanks, crazynerd and JinxPrincess13.

Oh, and another-which story should I focus on and finish first-'Keep On Loving You', 'War of the Worlds' or my new fanfiction spoof?


	15. Chapter 15

One more chapter left, my followers! I know it may seem like a short time, but it's as long as you want it.

* * *

_She was wrapped in a thin, silky piece of cloth that made the hairs on her head tingle in the breeze. She stood on mud, the soft soil squishing between her toes. She did not know where she was, but she enjoyed the feeling._

_An arm wrapped around her shoulders and a pair of lips kissed her cheek. She turned her head and saw him, wearing a colorless piece of silk as a tunic. "Where…where are we?" she asked._

_He smiled and nuzzled her neck. "We're home," he whispered. _

"_Home?" she asked._

Rae blinked and looked up at the white ceiling, bright and plain. She squinted and saw nothing. _Aw, damn it, I interrupted my own dream!_ she screamed mentally.

The door opened and she quickly closed her eyes.

"Rae?" BB's voice said.

Rae breathed slowly. "Garfield?"

"Oh thank God, you're okay," he panted. "We found you on the streets. Dick and Cy carried you in and checked you for any injuries. You're okay, but you have a bruised leg."

"Roy…Roy…" she panted.

He swallowed. "Star and I flew him over. He doesn't look good. Because it was in his neck, it was closer to his heart and…the needle-thing was jumbo-sized. And they slugged him roughly."

She gasped and sat up. "Where is he?"

"He's in that inspection room, he has heart monitors everywhere and he had his blood pressure taken all day."

He slid her arm over his shoulders and slid the other around her waist. He carefully helped her up and guided her to the inspection room.

Star and the boys were standing around the bed, heads bowed, not hearing the others walk in. "Guys," BB said, "Rae's here."

Everybody turned to them. "Hey, girl, how you feeling?" they asked.

"How is he?" Rae automatically asked.

"Not well," Star said. Her eyes were shaking and twinkling. "Friend, I'm scared."

Rae pulled herself from Gar's arm and gasped. The sight was so terribly she wanted to look away but she rushed over anyway. There he was, her lover, lying shirtless under the sheets with nose tubes and IVs attached to his bare arms. His breathing came in hesitant hitches. She sucked her lips into her mouth and sniffed.

"R-Roy?" she asked shakily.

He grunted and she began crying. Slowly his closed eyes began to relax and he looked up. His naked eyes were so fragile without his mask they scared her. "R-R-Rae…"

She sobbed and wiped her eye. "How…I…. Please, don't go."

Rae laid her hand on his, but he pulled away. "N-n-no," he gasped. "L-l-leave m-m-e t-t-to d-die, I-I-I do-don't d-deserve t-to l-live, I-I f-f-f-fell a-g-g-gain…"

Rae knelt down and kissed his left cheek. "No you don't," she whispered slowly. "You are a hero. You need to live. I love you."

Tears slid down her face as he shook. "Before you think negatively of yourself, think of this. Your friends will be one member short. You do not know it, but falling will help make you stronger, and you don't know how much you contributed to the world. I will heal you."

She put her hands on both sides of his wet, shaking head and eased the pain. A tear slid down the side of his face and he fell asleep.

"Rae…" Gar began, "where were you the whole time?"

"We started out in Virginia," she said. "Somebody attacked our house and we went to Florida. After he finished rehab, I flew him back her to testify against his old dealers, and…this happened."

Star began crying and Dick gripped her shoulder. He was aware many people called this victim a 'clone' or 'wannabe' of him, but that was just as painful as this. He was a good person, and now he was trying to regain conscious.

Behind them the door knocked.

"Dick?"

* * *

Get up. Get up.

He shut his eyes tight against the creepy voice.

Get up. Get up. Get up.

I can't. They'll kill me.

Get up. Get up.

No!

_"He knew you wouldn't be welcome on this reservation anymore..."_

_"I can't marry you, Roy..."_

_"You're a lousy junkie-no better than the rest of those sniveling punks!"_

_"New students for my new school..."_

_"You may be formidable...but apart...you are lost, powerless, mine..."_

_"Oh, dear God! You are on drugs!"_

_On drugs...on drugs..._

He opened his blazing eyes and panted. The side of his neck burned and his arm was frozen. Where am I? What happened?

"Roy? Are you awake?"

He looked down at himself, damp with perspiration, his ribs bandaged, and at his teammates. "Karen? Garth? Boys?"

The only ones in the room, Bee smiled through her tears and ran over and hugged him. "Roy! Oh my God, you're all right!"

"Senor, Senor!" Guess who yelled as soon as the three other boys ran over and hugged him.

"Hey, little midgets," he joked, "how are my Guatemala clones?"

The little boys giggled. Garth gave him a one-arm hug. "Hey, Roy, how are you feeling?"

"Fine," he said. "Where are the others?"

"In the common room," Bee said, "sleeping. It took them all night to fix this up for you, so they need their rest."

Roy moaned. "Why?" Garth asked.

He leaned back and flexed his arms. "Just wanted to know," he yawned. "Do…do you guys, you know, forgive me?"

There was a two-minute silence in the room. Then Bee grinned and hugged him. "Of course we do," she said. "Rae told us all about it-and about those memories so we could understand. Just please don't do drugs again."

"We care about you, man," the prince said doing the same. "You're our unofficial evil brother, and we don't want you to get hurt-we love you."

"Si," the twins agreed.

Roy smiled, blinked a tear from his eye, and embraced them tightly. So far they were a family-but how were they going to mend the pieces?

* * *

"Just give it another chance," she begged swallowing.

He looked down and shook his head. "Hon, I don't know how many times I've attempted something and failed. I can't do this anymore. What if I fall back to my addiction?"…

It was two in the morning. After the East embraced and forgave their archer, Cy walked in to check his medical conditions and injuries. He said it was jumbo-sized but was fading quickly due to muscle. "Did you and my girl do something together?" he asked.

"She helped me regain muscle," Roy said. "Is that why?"

"Yes," he said. "Congratulations, Roy-you'll have the toxins out of your entire body by one-thirty tonight. She told me about this tracking device that would hurt you in certain body parts. While you were unconscious, I operated on you and took it out of your arm."

Roy's forehead exploded in a cold sweat. He looked down and noticed for the first time a line of stitches and a gash on the top of his bicep.

"Sooner or later, we'll trial against them and use this as evidence." He held up a sandwich bag filled with cotton balls, but Roy was too happy to concentrate on it. "It tangled with your memories while you went cold turkey. That's why you were hallucinating and felt you needed to collect heroin."

Roy laughed a yelp of surprise and Bee kissed his hand. "I'll be free," he whispered. "Can I see Rae? I want to tell her something."

"Everyone already knows," Cy said. "They're asleep now."

"Please? I need to tell her something really quick-you know, discuss some things." He was shocked at his own begging.

Cy narrowed his eye at him-softening when he saw the weak color-and sighed. "All right," he said, "but I don't think she'll be too happy that we woke her."

He patted Roy's knee and walked out. Bee looked at her teammate curiously.

"What do you need to talk to her about?" she asked.

Roy shrugged. "Personal things, you know…I want to discuss a few things."

The water prince lifted his brow. "Like what?"

Roy's eyes sank. "I…I want to talk to her…about…what happened…on the streets-"

"Shush," Bee interrupted putting a hand on his lips. "Let's forget about the streets," she whispered. "It's over-you're going to be all right and we'll move on with our lives."

Roy sighed and ruffled Mas' red tuft of hair. He realized that none of the twins were wearing their goggles. Their faces were rounder and cuter without the transparent yellow. All four eyes were wide and innocent.

"Hey, Roy," Garth said, "you know, I forgot to say...I've…suffered at my mentor's hands."

Everybody gave him a blank look.

The boy looked down, sighed and closed his eyes. "Arthur…was like a father to me, you know? I loved him just as much, but then…I left him for almost the same reason you did."

"What are you talking about?" Karen asked stroking Roy's hair.

Garth held his breath for a few seconds. "There was this villain…who told Arthur that his son, Aquababy we called the little boy, would die…if he didn't…kill me. He beat me almost to the death…even so, Arthur Jr. was killed anyway. The whole thing was a lie. I became so horrified of him I ran away and haven't spoken to him since."

His eyes began watering. "Oh, dear Neptune…"

Roy sat up, adjusted the tubes in his arms, and wrapped his arms comfortingly around his friend, shock still in his mind. He left his mentor after he caught him shooting heroin. His friend left his mentor because he tried to kill him in order to pull out of a lie. So now he realized he was not the only one who felt as if his teacher had abandoned him. Life was hard, life was never fair…but his friend managed to push it aside. He sniffed, rubbed his friend's back, and opted to do the same.

"Roy?"

The man in question looked up. Cy and Rae were standing at the doorway, her eyes sunken and dark circles under her eyes. Her face seemed to be sagging and her uniform was rumpled, but she was awake and alert.

"Rae…"

She sniffed and walked over hastily, wanting so bad to run instead, run over and lift him from the bed, embrace him, run away with him to the house on his postcard, be with him…she just sighed and walked quickly anyway.

"Watch the tubes in his arms, Rae," Cy warned before closing the door. The twins stepped back to make room for her. She stood over Roy's form, took in his exhausted, sagged appearance, and leaned forward and hugged him rather tightly.

Tears ran from purple and masked eyes as the lovers were reunited after several moments of silence. Bee huddled in a corner and wept.

"Karen?" Garth asked. "Are you okay?"

She couldn't explain-what was there to explain?

Roy ran his hand down her back and she ruffled his oily hair. She pulled away for a while and smiled at the bee, water prince, and twins. "Thank you," Garth said, "for watching over him."

She smiled and shook her head. "No," she said. "Thank you for bringing him in and beginning to develop a family of friendship. If it weren't for you, he'd be dead now."

The twins' eyes began watering. "S-Senorita…"

She nodded. "True, teamwork led him back to addiction, but it is just the beginning for him to learn about what family is and what it means to be in one."

"Rae, can we talk in private please? I want to discuss something important with you." He looked at her with pleading eyes.

She nodded and looked at the East, who quietly walked out. Rae sat in Garth's seat and caressed his oily face. "What is it?"

In a matter of three minutes, she heard something she thought she'd never hear-or at least feared she would hear him say. "Rae…please do not get mad, but…I'm thinking of retiring and becoming an anonymous mortal."

She gasped and held his hand. "Why?"…

* * *

"That's part of life-making mistakes, failing, and trying again until you succeed." She held his face in her hands. "I believe in you. You saved those kids…they would be in brothels or a different country instead of their homes without you. I know Ollie is not the nicest man, but he would be more ashamed if you gave up. Impress him instead-show him that you conquered your addiction, his abuse, and are ready to move on."

She held his hands and kissed his lips. When she pulled away, she looked into his eyes. He looked down and picked at a scab on his wrist.

"How…" he asked.

"How what?" she asked.

"How…could I move on after I was nearly killed?" His eyes began watering and he wiped his face hastily.

Rae held his hand and kissed his cheek. "Do things you would want to do before you die. Do you remember you telling me how you never got along with Bee?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I think you two should start spending time together-you can't work well on a team if you don't understand the person whom you're working with. Maybe you two need to talk about yourselves more.

"Also, try to get to know Garth and the twins-maybe Garth felt like you make fun of him for loving the ocean too much, and maybe the twins are secretly looking for a friend in you." She smiled and kissed him again. "I believe it was Dale Carnegie who said, 'You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.'"

He lifted his eyebrows. "You can do it-I believe in you," she whispered before kissing him again.

He paused, smiled and responded deeply.

"Excuse me," came her 'big brother's' voice. "I need to give him a medical exam."

They reluctantly pulled away and she held his hand. "W-what's going to…?"

"Just a few harmless tests," he said. He pulled out a stethoscope and shoved the tubes into his ears. "I need you to sit up."

Roy swallowed and gripped her arm as she helped him sit up. Heat rolled down his bare, cloth-lined back and she rubbed his spine. He put the chill ring on his heart. "Inhale…"

He did do in a stifled gasp. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Exhale," the 'doctor' said.

He took a long sigh.

After the test, he had him swallow a few painkillers before leaving him in peace. Though the 'doctor' refused to admit it, Rae refused to leave him and she ended up falling asleep with her head on his arm. In his mind, he smiled. She would be there all night...and she would be there when Roy woke up in the morning.

* * *

He awoke to find Vic detaching the IVs and wires from his arms, his movements slow and calm. "Vic…"

"You're up?" he asked looking at him.

"Just woke," he whined painfully. "Where are we going?"

"Common room," he said. "We are going to have a small get-together to celebrate your recovery."

His little sister helped him sit up and pulled the sheets-wet-away. "They've spent all day planning this," she said. "We hope you like it."

"Can you please go down there and check on everyone is?" Vic asked. "I'll take care of him."

His heart fell into his gut and he swallowed with difficulty. She narrowed her eyes, he could tell, but she phased through te floor anyway.

He helped Roy slide into a tight black T-shirt and slid his hands under his back and knees. Roy wrapped his arm around his neck and looked ahead. "Vic…"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do…do you forgive me?" he asked.

There was a small silence, then Vic gave him a small hug. "You're my friend," he said. "That's why I played a part in your recovery."

Roy gave a brief smile as he carried his friend to the room.

* * *

To all my reviewers so far, I want to thank you and hope you'll continue reading this story as well as others of mine. And if you're an avid writer yourself, good luck!

Oh, and about Garth's past-there's hardly anything about why he left the Sea King, but I found info on a Titans wiki, so let me know if that was the wrong reason he ran away from Aquaman.

From fans to me-as you can tell, I'm kind of huge in the whole Lian character thing, so review and please give me an honest answer-should I include the little girl in the story? It would be that he never knew that the affair he had with Jade gave him a daughter yet when he realized she had his child the teams took her from her mother's custody and adopted her. Then there could be a few smaller scenes while the girl is sleeping. In other words, she is in her guest room during the last conversation scene with our main characters. What do you think?

P.S. Farewell, _Smallville._ You are one of the longest-living TV shows ever, and especially about a comic book character. I saw only one episode of your show, but you are remarkable.


	16. Chapter 16

Well, fellas, looks like this journey has come to an end after what, seven months? I don't remember. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing.

I want to thank every person who reviewed this story, which is by far my biggest, and especially those who stick through every chapter. If you still like this story, I am grateful.

Now, on with the finale!

* * *

It was almost a year after the whole eventful scenes. It was a year after he attacked Bee, and he spent the day in his love's dark room. He was somewhat hesitant to enter after hearing of its gothic elements, but he didn't mind-she saved his life, and he loved her no matter what.

"So how were your Spanish lessons?" she asked rolling over to face him. For some reason, she wore a purple silk nightgown or sorts with short sleeves and matching fuzzy socks. He was simply in his uniform, but he had removed the bow and arrows. On the bed between them were sketches of designer uniforms he was drawing in case he needed a change of wardrobe, new weapons, or simply a new name…

He smiled at the ceiling and flexed his back. "They're actually fun. Now they're calling me Señor Harper and I'm trying to find out the name for 'midget'. I feel more intelligent than before-but still they talk too fast for me to understand."

She smiled and rolled over on her stomach, peeking at him from over her arm. "That's why we call them 'the Flash twins.' How many years did Cy's medical tests say you gained back?"

"Twelve years," he said. "I feel lot stronger and healthier than before. My goal is to gain two more decades in my life. I'm still on that greens diet, but I miss tacos-any kind, but I know I gave up fish for a good reason."

"Speaking of which, how are the training sessions Dick sets up working for you?" she asked. "Do you think they challenge you well enough?"

He pouted. "They're hard and take up too much energy to feel good after the workout."

She continued smiling and nodded. "Yeah," she agreed, "but tell me about you two fighting Rancid today-alone. The only thing we heard from you two was that his metal dog scared you to the point where you wanted to run away. You boys were exhausted-but that's normal."

He smiled. "I feel kind of proud…of being an arsenal. Dick tripped him with his ropes and he obviously fell, but he outsmarted the freeze-discs and that's where he got that big bruise on his hip. I ran beside him and shot arrows at his direction until I hit him in the ear with the stuffed fist. He fell off KO. Then I stole his motorcycle, tied him to the back, picked up Dick, and drove to the jail."

She smiled and kissed his neck, but he gently pushed her back so he could continue. "After they took him in, there were all these kids who saw us and they were scared for Dick, but they looked at me-"

He didn't finish, but she smiled broader at the chants of _"Speedy! Speedy! Speedy! Speedy!"_ when Cy drove up to take them home. Dick was seriously injured, but Roy asked to be left behind to sign autographs for countless little children and teenagers on their actual school notebooks.

"I guess the whole 'wipe the slate clean' plan worked out well," she said.

"I couldn't have done it without you," he whispered leaning forward and kissing her softly.

"Be careful," she whispered, "Cy hooked a video camera somewhere in here."

He huffed and slid his hand down her back. "Tell him that his little sister's all grown up," he chuckled. His hand slid down her thigh and pulled her knee up around his waist.

She pouted and puckered her lips. Ever since he introduced her to romance, she had better control of her emotions and rarely did anything happen. She shifted herself to is waist and traced the contours of his chest. "Shut up and kiss me."

He leaned forward and kissed her eyelids first. "Rae…I love you."

His husky whisper sent waves over her heart and chilled her abdominal lining-but she whispered slowly before smothering him with her lips.

"I'm proud of you, Roy. But more, I love you."

* * *

I love Speedy's voice. Mike Erwin is fascinating at the job.

Okay…well, my eyes are drooping because I stare at the screen too much. Personally, I almost cried writing this, but if you disliked it, let me know. I don't think of morals, but I hope this sent the message that if you reached your goal but fell again, you still shouldn't give up. Again, thanks for reading, and remember what you have and those who love you.

Oh, and another thing-don't give me flak for not using an accent mark or Spanish letters or upside-down exclamation marks, because I am still learning how to do that on the computer.


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